Physical & Emotional Abuse Support Group
Abuse is a general term for the treatment of someone that causes some kind of harm (to the abused person, to the abusers themselves, or to someone else) that is unlawful or wrongful. No one deserves abuse, period. Abuse can be emotional, physical, or sexual.
Pasted in from today's
Wolf's Daily Howl:
Pasted in from today's
New York Times website.
HOUSE BACKS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW
By ASHLEY PARKER
Published: February 28, 2013
WASHINGTON The House voted on Thursday to pass the Senates bipartisan reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, in a big victory for President Obama and Democrats in Congress.
The legislation passed on a vote of 286 to 138, with 199 Democrats joining 87 Republicans to push the reauthorization of the landmark 1994 law, which assists victims of domestic and sexual violence, across the finish line.
Though the reauthorization passed the Senate earlier this month with 78 votes including those of every woman, all Democrats and just over half of Republicans a version unveiled by the House last Friday immediately came under sharp criticism from Democrats and womens and human rights groups for failing to include certain provisions offered in the Senate bill.
The House bill excluded specific protections for gay, bisexual or transgender victims of domestic abuse eliminating sexual orientation and gender identity from a list of underserved populations that face barriers to receiving victim services and stripped certain provisions regarding Native American women on reservations.
Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the majority leader, had committed to passing the legislation in the House only with bipartisan support. On Tuesday night, with House Democrats firmly united against the Republican version, the House Rules Committee approved a bifurcated process to consider the Senate legislation; on Thursday, the House first voted on its substitute amendment and then, when that version failed to pass, it took up and passed the Senate version.
On Thursday, Democrat after Democrat stood on the House floor, urging their colleagues to reject what they said was the weaker House version and to vote for the underlying Senate-passed bill.
Representative Gwen Moore, Democrat of Wisconsin and a victim of domestic and sexual violence herself, spoke passionately about the need to pass the Senates reauthorization bill.
I pray that this body will do as the Senate has done and come together as one to protect all women from violence, Ms. Moore said. As I think about the L.G.B.T. victims who are not here, the native women who are not here, the immigrants who arent in this bill, I would say, as Sojourner Truth would say, Aint they women?'
Aint they women? she repeated, emphatically.
Republicans said that their version of the bill included protections for all women, a point they repeatedly made on the House floor Thursday. But the controversy surrounding the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which expired during the last Congress when the House was unable to reach a compromise, highlighted problems Republicans are having with female voters.
During the 2012 presidential election, Mr. Obama beat Mitt Romney among women by 11 percentage points, and Republicans lost high-profile races amid a backlash from female voters after the Republican candidate made controversial statements about rape or abortion.
Earlier this month, more than 1,300 womens and human rights groups signed a letter supporting the Senate legislation.
With only 87 Republicans voting in favor of the Senate-passed bill, the legislation passed with significant numbers of Democratic votes, marking the third time in two months that Speaker John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, has brought a bill to the floor without having the support of a majority of his conference. A deal to avert automatic tax increases at the beginning of the year, as well as a relief package for states hit by Hurricane Sandy, also passed the House largely with the support of Democratic votes.
The trend has worried and angered conservative members of the conference. Speaking at a public conversation with fellow conservative members on Wednesday, Representative Ral Labrador, Republican of Idaho, said that while he did not necessarily oppose the content of the Senates version of the Violence Against Women Act, he was frustrated with the possibility that Mr. Boehner would yet again bring legislation to the floor that required Democratic votes to pass.
Its a huge concern, he said.
Wolf's Daily Howl:
Pasted in from today's
New York Times website.
HOUSE BACKS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW
By ASHLEY PARKER
Published: February 28, 2013
WASHINGTON The House voted on Thursday to pass the Senates bipartisan reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, in a big victory for President Obama and Democrats in Congress.
The legislation passed on a vote of 286 to 138, with 199 Democrats joining 87 Republicans to push the reauthorization of the landmark 1994 law, which assists victims of domestic and sexual violence, across the finish line.
Though the reauthorization passed the Senate earlier this month with 78 votes including those of every woman, all Democrats and just over half of Republicans a version unveiled by the House last Friday immediately came under sharp criticism from Democrats and womens and human rights groups for failing to include certain provisions offered in the Senate bill.
The House bill excluded specific protections for gay, bisexual or transgender victims of domestic abuse eliminating sexual orientation and gender identity from a list of underserved populations that face barriers to receiving victim services and stripped certain provisions regarding Native American women on reservations.
Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the majority leader, had committed to passing the legislation in the House only with bipartisan support. On Tuesday night, with House Democrats firmly united against the Republican version, the House Rules Committee approved a bifurcated process to consider the Senate legislation; on Thursday, the House first voted on its substitute amendment and then, when that version failed to pass, it took up and passed the Senate version.
On Thursday, Democrat after Democrat stood on the House floor, urging their colleagues to reject what they said was the weaker House version and to vote for the underlying Senate-passed bill.
Representative Gwen Moore, Democrat of Wisconsin and a victim of domestic and sexual violence herself, spoke passionately about the need to pass the Senates reauthorization bill.
I pray that this body will do as the Senate has done and come together as one to protect all women from violence, Ms. Moore said. As I think about the L.G.B.T. victims who are not here, the native women who are not here, the immigrants who arent in this bill, I would say, as Sojourner Truth would say, Aint they women?'
Aint they women? she repeated, emphatically.
Republicans said that their version of the bill included protections for all women, a point they repeatedly made on the House floor Thursday. But the controversy surrounding the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which expired during the last Congress when the House was unable to reach a compromise, highlighted problems Republicans are having with female voters.
During the 2012 presidential election, Mr. Obama beat Mitt Romney among women by 11 percentage points, and Republicans lost high-profile races amid a backlash from female voters after the Republican candidate made controversial statements about rape or abortion.
Earlier this month, more than 1,300 womens and human rights groups signed a letter supporting the Senate legislation.
With only 87 Republicans voting in favor of the Senate-passed bill, the legislation passed with significant numbers of Democratic votes, marking the third time in two months that Speaker John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, has brought a bill to the floor without having the support of a majority of his conference. A deal to avert automatic tax increases at the beginning of the year, as well as a relief package for states hit by Hurricane Sandy, also passed the House largely with the support of Democratic votes.
The trend has worried and angered conservative members of the conference. Speaking at a public conversation with fellow conservative members on Wednesday, Representative Ral Labrador, Republican of Idaho, said that while he did not necessarily oppose the content of the Senates version of the Violence Against Women Act, he was frustrated with the possibility that Mr. Boehner would yet again bring legislation to the floor that required Democratic votes to pass.
Its a huge concern, he said.
that provide resources
to victims. The renewal
of the bill expands the
scope of who is protected
and now includes LGBT relationships,
native Americans and recent
immigrants.
I learned more about the
Violence Against Women Act.
Here are some additional facts:
In 1994, then Senator Joseph Biden sponsored legislation called the Violence Against Women Act, as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.
VAWA was signed into law by President Clinton
in September of 1994.
The original legislation included these provisions:
Requires a coordinated community response to domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking crimes, encouraging jurisdictions to bring together multiple players to share experience and information and to use their distinct roles to improve communitydefined responses.
Strengthens federal penalties for repeat sex offenders and included a federal rape shield law, which is intended to prevent offenders from using victims past sexual conduct against them during a rape trial.
Creates full faith and credit provisions requires states and territories to enforce protection orders issued by other states, tribes and territories.
Creates legal relief for battered immigrants that made it more difficult for abusers to use immigration law to prevent victims from calling the police or seeking safety.
Allows victims to seek civil rights remedies for genderrelated crimes.1 DOJ, HHS, and CDC grant programs under VAWA 1994 include: DOJ: The STOP (Services*Training*Officers* Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program, the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies Program, the Rural Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Assistance Grant Program, and the STOP Violence Against Indian Women Discretionary Program (created from a statutory setaside of STOP funds for Indian tribal governments).
HHS: VAWA authorizes funds to establish the National Domestic Violence Hotline and to support battered women's shelters, rape prevention education, and coordinated community responses to domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.
The 2013 renewal expands upon
the original provisions, to provide
greater protection for more victims.
(Occasionally, they get something right.)