Resurrection After Rape Community Group
Discussion, question-and-answer, general social support, and journal processing for progress-oriented rape survivors. No crisis, no damaging or triggering conflicts--this is for individuals who want to contribute to collective, cooperative action toward the goal of making actual PROGRESS through rape trauma. Much of this work is based on the book "Resurrection After...
Shame on them: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/02/violence-against-women-act-_n_2398553.html
Congress had a lengthy to-do list as the end of the year approached, with a series of measures that needed action before 2013 began. Some of the items passed (a fiscal agreement, a temporary farm bill), while others didn't (relief funding for victims of Hurricane Sandy).
And then there's the Violence Against Women Act, which was supposed to be one of the year's easy ones. It wasn't.
Back in April, the Senate approved VAWA reauthorization fairly easily, with a 68 to 31 vote. The bill was co-written by a liberal Democrat (Vermont's Pat Leahy) and a conservative Republican (Idaho's Mike Crapo), and seemed on track to be reauthorized without much of a fuss, just as it was in 2000 and 2005. In other words, VAWA has typically been a non-partisan issue. Until now.
But House Republicans insisted the bill is too supportive of immigrants, the LGBT community, and Native Americans -- and they'd rather let the law expire than approve a slightly expanded proposal. Vice President Biden, who helped write the original law, tried to persuade House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to keep the law alive, but the efforts didn't go anywhere.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
VAWA is the primary source of funding for most (*thousands of) domestic violence shelters and rape crisis programs. It funds all of the following:
*Hospital care for rape victims, including forensic examinations and medical treatment for injuries
*Free counseling for victims at rape crisis centers
*Training of law enforcement on sexual assault/domestic violence issues
*Equipment and personnel to test forensic evidence to enhance prosecution of perpetrators
*Grants to encourage successful rape convictions by training judges, detectives, and prosecutors
*Prevention education of domestic and sexual violence
*Rural rape crisis program development
*Maintenance of state domestic violence/sexual assault coalition staff
*Native American programs to assist tribal rape victims
*Services for LGBT victims of domestic and sexual violence
*Programs to aid victims of stalking and human trafficking
We saw funds cut for DV/SA services before (in the last few years), and I've occasionally posted updates about widespread closures of shelters and crisis programs, including one state (Kansas) that simply removed domestic violence statutes from its state laws and announced its attorney general would no longer prosecute batterers because of funding cuts. I sounded the alarm in August 2011 here: http://www.dailystrength.org/people/165148/journal/2319833 In Fall 2011, my position as Director of Rural Sexual Assault Programs was eliminated due to preliminary budget cuts. I was worried about coming off "too political," but seriously, fuck that now. This is too dreadful a matter to be dainty about that.
We're about to enter a very dark time. Victims are about to find that nearly ALL crisis services nationwide have been cut or eliminated, except for those receiving sufficient private funding (yeah right!) to continue. No joke, no exaggeration, no scare tactics here--this is seriously the GOP eliminating funding for nearly EVERY rape crisis and domestic violence program in America.
Congress had a lengthy to-do list as the end of the year approached, with a series of measures that needed action before 2013 began. Some of the items passed (a fiscal agreement, a temporary farm bill), while others didn't (relief funding for victims of Hurricane Sandy).
And then there's the Violence Against Women Act, which was supposed to be one of the year's easy ones. It wasn't.
Back in April, the Senate approved VAWA reauthorization fairly easily, with a 68 to 31 vote. The bill was co-written by a liberal Democrat (Vermont's Pat Leahy) and a conservative Republican (Idaho's Mike Crapo), and seemed on track to be reauthorized without much of a fuss, just as it was in 2000 and 2005. In other words, VAWA has typically been a non-partisan issue. Until now.
But House Republicans insisted the bill is too supportive of immigrants, the LGBT community, and Native Americans -- and they'd rather let the law expire than approve a slightly expanded proposal. Vice President Biden, who helped write the original law, tried to persuade House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to keep the law alive, but the efforts didn't go anywhere.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
VAWA is the primary source of funding for most (*thousands of) domestic violence shelters and rape crisis programs. It funds all of the following:
*Hospital care for rape victims, including forensic examinations and medical treatment for injuries
*Free counseling for victims at rape crisis centers
*Training of law enforcement on sexual assault/domestic violence issues
*Equipment and personnel to test forensic evidence to enhance prosecution of perpetrators
*Grants to encourage successful rape convictions by training judges, detectives, and prosecutors
*Prevention education of domestic and sexual violence
*Rural rape crisis program development
*Maintenance of state domestic violence/sexual assault coalition staff
*Native American programs to assist tribal rape victims
*Services for LGBT victims of domestic and sexual violence
*Programs to aid victims of stalking and human trafficking
We saw funds cut for DV/SA services before (in the last few years), and I've occasionally posted updates about widespread closures of shelters and crisis programs, including one state (Kansas) that simply removed domestic violence statutes from its state laws and announced its attorney general would no longer prosecute batterers because of funding cuts. I sounded the alarm in August 2011 here: http://www.dailystrength.org/people/165148/journal/2319833 In Fall 2011, my position as Director of Rural Sexual Assault Programs was eliminated due to preliminary budget cuts. I was worried about coming off "too political," but seriously, fuck that now. This is too dreadful a matter to be dainty about that.
We're about to enter a very dark time. Victims are about to find that nearly ALL crisis services nationwide have been cut or eliminated, except for those receiving sufficient private funding (yeah right!) to continue. No joke, no exaggeration, no scare tactics here--this is seriously the GOP eliminating funding for nearly EVERY rape crisis and domestic violence program in America.
Don’t these decision makers have daughters, sisters and mothers? Do they care so little about how this will impact on individuals, families and communities? Ok, I’m seriously out of words now.
I am kind of beyond shocked and angry at this point that I live in a culture that continues to prioritize war over food, profit over dignity, and "power over" over shared power.
The only solution that I can grapple with at this point is getting to know my neighbors, and building a community that takes care of one another.
While the reauthorization bill is “dead,” VAWA itself is very much alive and will continue in its 2005 version.
Programs and services will not close because we didn’t reauthorize VAWA but they are certainly threatened because the budget crises at the local, state and national levels are always looming.While the deal on the “fiscal cliff” delayed harmful across-the-board cuts to federal programs until early March, our analysis shows nearly 200,000 victims of violence would lose services if another agreement is not made. With your help, we can build on the work we’ve done in 2012 to pass VAWA in 2013 and stop these destructive budget cuts.
*******
If the House fails to act, Leahy vowed to continue to champion inclusive legislation that protects all victims next year and push Congress to act.
“We have seen enough violence,” Leahy said. “If we cannot get the Leahy-Crapo bill over the finish line this year, we will come back next year, and we will get it done. I look forward to other Senators joining us as we continue this vital effort.”
How does anything get changed anymore? I don't see protests over in the UK helping much. But then like the student fees protests..people are now voting with their feet and not applying to uni. Sometimes progress is slow. The problem with the treatment of women is that it has been so slow it threatens to go backwards. Maybe we all need to get a bit "radical" maybe more men need to step up with their frustrations.
Politically speaking if the majority voters wanted the bill then it woul be political suicide to not offer those things. It needs to be big because clearly people aren't listening.
I read that they are resubmitting the bill and it will include wider provisions. Maybe people power is needed to ensure that happens
The funds allocated in 2005 are for a set period of time, which is up. To put it another way, the laws that were enacted with VAWA 2005 (and previous iterations) remain federal laws, so in *that* sense it's true that "VAWA itself is very much alive and will continue in its 2005 version." But funding for VAWA-created programs doesn't live on.
Sorry for the bad language before, but sheesh, I'm tired of trying to be diplomatic about this stuff. Fact is, this comes down to partisanship and there's no way to pretend it doesn't just to spare feelings. Millions of women depend on VAWA more than they depend on me "playing nice" by politely avoiding mentioning that it's Republicans who have done this over and over. If it were Democrats who'd done this, I'd be blasting them just as harshly. I hope we're not at the point that my saying so is more offensive than the disgusting deed itself, but if anyone has some better way to look at what those politicians just did to DV and rape crisis centers across the country, I'd be grateful to hear it.
In the mean time, keep our friends Jennifer and Rachele in your thoughts and prayers (as well as the thousands of other women and men who work every day to support programs for abused women). This has to feel like a horrifying betrayal of everything they've spent their lives trying to do for victims and survivors.
The funds allocated in 2005 are for a set period of time, which is up. To put it another way, the laws that were enacted with VAWA 2005 (and previous iterations) remain federal laws, so in *that* sense it's true that "VAWA itself is very much alive and will continue in its 2005 version." But funding for VAWA-created programs doesn't live on.
Sorry for the bad language before, but sheesh, I'm tired of trying to be diplomatic about this stuff. Fact is, this comes down to partisanship and there's no way to pretend it doesn't just to spare feelings. Millions of women depend on VAWA more than they depend on me "playing nice" by politely avoiding mentioning that it's Republicans who have done this over and over. If it were Democrats who'd done this, I'd be blasting them just as harshly. I hope we're not at the point that my saying so is more offensive than the disgusting deed itself, but if anyone has some better way to look at what those politicians just did to DV and rape crisis centers across the country, I'd be grateful to hear it.
In the mean time, keep our friends Jennifer and Rachele in your thoughts and prayers (as well as the thousands of other women and men who work every day to support programs for abused women). This has to feel like a horrifying betrayal of everything they've spent their lives trying to do for victims and survivors.
I've seen this aspect previously "The Senate voted to renew the act for a third time in April, barring agencies that receive funding under the law from discriminating against gays and lesbians, allowing immigrants who face domestic violence to seek legal status and giving tribal authorities new power to prosecute cases on Indian reservations."
What I didn't realize until today was what the tribal prosecution piece was all about:
"The House bill failed to extend the power of Native American tribes to prosecute offenses committed by non-Indians on tribal lands, which the National Congress of American Indians said allows abusers to "game the system" and avoid prosecution."
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/03/politics/congress-domestic-violence/
Although the details about what won't happen don't really answer what can be done to change things.
I'm kinda scared about this for my family.
See, I support my family through book sales. If people buy my book, we pay bills. If they don't buy it, we can't. And most of my sales come from crisis centers. I've been fortunate that "Resurrection After Rape" has become the primary text for rape trauma work now (I never dreamed that was possible!), and women's centers across America stock it and give it to their clients.
With VAWA gone, those programs have no funding. I'm worried that I'll see my sales income plummet. I hope that's not just a selfish way to look at it, but in my defense that didn't even occur to me until AFTER fuming in outrage on behalf of the millions of women who've just had their crisis services yanked away. And frankly, being able to support my wife and kids with my work isn't exactly gluttonous.
I have a beginning career in art that I hope will take off, but this VAWA problem creates a more serious jeopardy than any previous crisis in my professional life has yet.
I'm not even in the US and I've been swinging between anger and hopelessness. Mostly for you guys but partially because this may affect the way other government view women's safety and health as a priority.
I wish I had a solution for you
The fact that you worry about your loved ones, yourself and your income is by no means selfish! Quite the opposite as far as I’m concerned. All of your reactions are totally justified, natural and necessary, so how could any of them diminish your character?
That this mess might mean trouble for you and yours as well only broadens the overall debacle. It makes me really angry that so many good people are being afflicted by this.
You’re a smart and creative man, so I have no doubt you will find solutions should you need to. You're clearly a truly talented artist, and moreover, you have a brilliant book on your hands. People just need to know about both. Perhaps you haven’t exhausted all available marketing and sales strategies yet?
Anyone wanna buy a painting?
(kidding!)
One thing to remember, though. Your book comes up in searches for self-help and healing from trauma. Yes, there will be fewer sales at physical locations, but there may be increased sales online, simply because more survivors will turn to the internet to try to find the help they aren't getting from the system. I think, if this forum hold true for many survivors, they will want something they can hold in their hands, cry on, write in, and throw at the wall. Hopefully more people will turn to credible resources, such as yours, to make it through another day until they can find the help they need, and in some cases, the resources and tools you provide in your writings will be just what they need to complete their journey.
I hope you are able to make the transition to being able to support your family through art, and book sales are the additional income instead of the primary. In the meantime, even if you don't have faith in the government, have faith in the individual people. Word of mouth can be a good thing, even if that "word of mouth" comes in the way of the internet.
In my heart I know you can succeed. Why, because you've succeeded before and been persistent when most would give up. You've been through the gamut, and have come out in one piece, maybe a little worn, sore and tired, but still in one piece.
At least three people besides me have said they found RAR really helpful.
Also hoping I can talk my work into purchasing a new copy of Letters to Survivors to replace the one I gave to someone I was working with. It was REALLY touching to see her go from not even wanting to look at the book to earmarking pages and wanting to tell me about what they meant to her.