March 23: Sign up Now to Counter I-VAWA Bias
Media Alert: Actress Ashley Judd to Speak Out on Violence Against Women Globally
Celebrated actress and humanitarian Ashley Judd will join Women Thrive in a media teleconference on March 23 to discuss the global scourge of violence against women. Washington, D.C.-based Women Thrive (www.womenthrive.org), the call sponsor, is the leading organization advocating for U.S. policies that empower the world’s poorest women and girls. The organization has been at the forefront of a large coalition to develop and advocate for new legislation to tackle this issue.
Nearly one out of every three women globally has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Violence against women includes abuse by spouses or partners in the home, rape used as a weapon during war time, and trafficking and forced prostitution of women. Judd, who is currently studying public policy at Harvard, is lending her voice to highlight the issue and speak up on behalf of women around the world who would not otherwise be heard.
The recently-introduced International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA)â€â€which has strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senateâ€â€is an immediate way for the United States to finally do something tangible about this problem. It is also a top priority for Secretary of State Clinton, who has highlighted gender-based violence repeatedly during her travels abroad, and for Vice President Biden who has been a well-known champion on this issue throughout his career.
A 2009 poll found that 61 percent of voters across demographic and political lines believe that ending global violence against women should one of President Obama’s top international priorities, and over 80 percent expressed support for the I-VAWA bill when it was explained to them.
Call details:
Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Time: 1:30 pm EST
Call in number: (866) 793-1341 (Please RSVP to leslie@drazninpr.com in order to be on the call.)
Also on the call:
Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX), lead bill sponsor of I-VAWA
Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), lead bill sponsor of IVAWA
Ritu Sharma, Co-founder and President, Women Thrive Worldwide
Humaira Shahid, former editor and legislator from Pakistan who pushed through groundbreaking domestic violence legislation there and is now a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard
If you are interested in participating, please respond to this email at your earliest convenience (email: leslie@drazninpr.com) so that we can add your name to the teleconference roster. Please call or email with any questions. Thanks for taking a look.
Best,
Leslie Levine
P.S. Here’s a link to a recent Boston Globe op-ed by Ritu Sharma and Humaira Shahid on I-VAWA:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/02/06/violence_against_women_is_a_global_struggle/
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