Advocates Disappointed by Passage of Flawed VAWA in the House
UPDATE on May 16, 2012: With a strongly partisan vote of 222 to 205, the U.S. House of Representatives today passed HR 4970, a version of the Violence Against Women Act that excludes victims such as immigrants, LGBT community, and Native American women from the law's protections.
"It is shameful that the House VAWA bill rejects protections for our most vulnerable victims," says Esta Soler, President of Futures Without Violence. "Domestic and sexual violence affect every community. We urgently need - and every woman deserves - a comprehensive Violence Against Women Act that does not fall prey to politics."
As one of the organizations that helped author the original VAWA in 1994, Futures Without Violence lauded the U.S. Senate in April for overwhelmingly passing an inclusive version of VAWA. [more...]
Futures’ Work to Engage Men Highlighted During Capitol Hill Briefing
Congressional staffers packed a House of Representatives hearing room Monday to learn more about important and effective programs to engage men and boys in the work of ending violence against women. Futures Without Violence’s Coaching Boys into Men program was highlighted and Futures’ newest team member, Casey Corcoran, led the panel. William Kellibrew shared the personal and heart-breaking story of witnessing his mother and brother’s murder and being forced to beg for his own life as a 10-year-old boy. He has committed himself to working to end domestic violence through the foundation that bears his name.
Drew Wing from Maine’s Boys to Men program spoke on their successful work as a grantee of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Engaging Men Program, and Dawn Dalton from Chicago Battered Women’s Network spoke about innovative programs happening in Chicago that work with adolescent boys to develop new social norms around masculinity that promote respect and non-violence.
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Mentors in Violence Prevention Conference
Whether you’re a student, a teacher, a parent, or a friend, everyone has an opportunity to be a role model for respect. In a world where abuse too often goes unreported, where young students are being bullied and harassed at school every day, and young women risk being sexually assaulted on college campuses across the country, it’s critical that we stand up and not stand by in the face of violence.
Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP), out of the Northeastern University Center for Sport & Society, will be holding a critical convening in Boston, May 31 - June 1, on the importance of engaging everyone to be part of the solution to ending gender-based violence. The conference – “Bystander Intervention: From its roots to the road ahead” – will be the first of its kind to convene experts, activists, and practitioners from around the world to share best practices and discuss the future of the field.
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