A vote to help women around the world

Human Rights Watch:

Two weeks ago, Natalie sat across from me in a crowded camp of displaced earthquake survivors in Port-au-Prince, wrapped her arms around her pregnant belly, and told me the world needed to do something about rape in Haiti. Eight and a half months after five men accosted her on the outskirts of the camp, covered her head with a plastic bag, dragged her into a tent and repeatedly raped her, she is about to give birth to the child of one of her rapists. Ten months after the earthquake, sexual violence in the camps has not abated and thousands more women and girls stand to suffer if Natalie's call for action is not heeded. Congress has a chance to take a stand. The rape of women and girls in Haiti is part of a global epidemic of violence against women. Right now a bipartisan bill, the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) is pending before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Slated for a committee vote next Tuesday, the bill proposes a comprehensive new strategy for US engagement in the fight to end violence against women worldwide.

The bill directs the State Department to create a five-year plan to reduce violence in up to 20 countries with high levels of violence against women. The bill identifies various facets of the problem that need to be tackled if we want real progress, including legal protections against violence, improved health services for survivors, better education and employment opportunities to empower women, and increasing the involvement of men and boys in the effort to end violence. Important for Haiti, the bill also calls for stepping up the US response to violence against women in the wake of humanitarian disasters, as well as post-conflict situations.

Continue reading here.