YWCA Week Without Violence

Week Without Violence is October 19-25

This year’s WWV theme will be “ENOUGH!” YWCA USA’s Week Without Violence website is a great place to start gathering information. You can also place a link directly to it from your home page. Look for more information from YWCA USA in your inbox in coming weeks.

On Monday August 4^th, 15 YWCA staffers from 10 GLA YWCAs joined a “Week Without Violence Planning and Sharing” conference call. The result of their collective wisdom is a giant list of activity ideas and resources that can be replicated to suit a range of audience and community needs.

We want to know what you’re doing to observe Week Without Violence! Visit the GLA Advocacy Blog to post a comment in the Week Without Violence post about your activities.

Week Without Violence Topic Areas

• Bullying
• Child Abuse
• Domestic Violence
• Gang Violence
• Hate Crimes
• Healing
• International Violence Against Women Issues
• Peace
• Racial Injustice
• Safety
• Sexual Assault
• Stalking
• Trafficking

Activities for Communities

• Radio and TV PSAs/ announcements about WWV Topics
• Peace Picnic
• Pancakes for Peace breakfast with tabling/ children’s activities/ etc.
• Peace Garden
• Peace Walk/ Unity Walk—like a peaceful protest march. In “Unity Walk” community members begin a separate places in different parts of town and converge in the middle for a shared celebration.
• Candlelight Vigils to honor victims and survivors of violence
• A community –wide “Gun turn-in program” where individuals may turn in weapons with no questions asked; organized in partnership with local law enforcement and city/ county officials
• Clothesline project and “letters to abusers” displays
• Make displays about non-violence for your YWCA lobby or traveling displays for tabling events
• Provide voter information throughout WWV events and activities, including information on early voting, voting safely for survivors of domestic violence, and postcards to remind community members that November 4^th is election day.

Activities aimed at youth/ young children

• Reading books about peace and safety at local libraries and pre-schools (examples “Hands are not for Hitting” and “The Peace Book”)
• Partnering with schools doing “Red Ribbon Week” campaigns (often the same week) to discuss how themes of violence relate to drug and alcohol use
• Focusing on bullying
• Art contest “When I’m Angry;” winner’s art is used on next year’s poster/ brochure
• High School Essay contest on Racial Justice relating to WWV topics. Prizes for top essays; winner will be published in local newspaper
• Peace pledges for school aged kids (see St. Louis Institute of Peace and Justice for examples)
• Organize a finger print clinic with local law enforcement—provides a finger print record for families
• Violent Toy turn-in Drive: kids turn in violent toys and receive peaceful toys in exchange

Activities for College Audiences

• Take Back the Night
• Movie night (examples:”Waitress,” “Batterers Will Kill” from YWCA Cincinnati)
• Theater performances
• Host a guest speaker on a related topic (example TJ Leyden, former white supremacist who speaks on hate/ tolerance issues)
• “Chalk the Quad”: Students chalk messages about peace/ violence against women/ etc. at the center of campus

House and Senate Appropriations Committees Pass Funding Increases for VAWA and VOCA

The House Appropriations Committee passed their Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) bill with $35 million in increased funding for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) programs at the Department of Justice and a $60 million increase for the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Fund. This is a huge increase in funding over FY 08 and even more funding than VAWA and VOCA received last week when the Senate Appropriations Committee passed their CJS bill.

The House bill increases VAWA from $400 million (in Fiscal Year 2008) to $435 million. This includes increases for several key programs:

· The STOP (Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors) Grant Program was increased to $178 million
· The Legal Assistance to Victims Program and the Rural Grant Program were both increased to $41 million each
· Transitional housing received $20 million
· The Sexual Assault Services Program (SASP) received $15 million
· The House passed a $60 million increase to the VOCA cap, providing a total of $650 million. This is a large and much needed funding increase for VOCA.

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed their version of the CJS bill with $15 million in increased funding for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) programs bringing the total to $415 millio at the Department of Justice and a $45 million increase for the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Fund.

This included increases for several key programs and critical funding for new programs:
· The STOP (Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors) Grant Program was increased to $162.9 million.
· The Legal Assistance to Victims Program was increased to $42 million.
· Rural Grants were increased to $42 million.
· The Sexual Assault Services Program (SASP) received $12 million.
· $45 million increase to the VOCA cap, providing $635 million in crucial funds.

To learn more about VAWA programs click here.

What happens next?
Next the full House and Senate must vote on the bills that were passed out of committee. After the House and Senate pass their separate bills, they must be reconciled into one final bill that is passed by Congress and signed by the President. It is possible that Congress will not finish the Appropriations process this calendar year, and may delay the process until a new President is inaugurated in 2009.

For an explanation of the Budget and Appropriations process and timeline click here.

Your legislators need to hear that they did the right thing by supporting these increases. Those who serve on the House and Senate Appropriations committees played a key role. Click the name of each legislator below to visit her or his congressional website. Use the contact form to send a thank you note for their work to maintain and expand funding for sexual and domestic violence.

If your reps aren’t listed below, fear not! There will be more opportunities to advocate for all of these measures to be funded at the maximum possible level as the federal budgeting process continues.


House Appropriations Committee Members from GLA
David R. Obey, Wisconsin, Chair
Marcy Kaptur, Ohio
Peter J. Visclosky, Indiana
Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Illinois
Carolyn C. Kilpatrick, Michigan
Tim Ryan, Ohio
Ralph Regula, Ohio
David L. Hobson, Ohio
Joe Knollenberg, Michigan
Ray LaHood, Illinois
Mark Steven Kirk, Illinois

Senate Appropriations Committee Members from GLA

Herb Kohl Wisconsin

Richard Durbin Illinois

Gratitude to the National Network to End Domestic Violence for suppling the information included in this update.

Postville Raid Brings Sexual Violence Against Immigrant Wokers to Light

Many racial justice and immigrants rights advocates have been following news of the raids at Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville Iowa last week. On May 12th 697 people were arrested by federal agents in the biggest single-site immigration raid in U.S. history.

Among the many dimensions of human rights abuses that advocates seek to remedy through comprehensive immigration reform, sexual and economic exploitation of undocumented workers is rarely brought to light. According to the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, "it is estimated that 80% of undocumented females who cross into the United States experience sexual assault and/or rape."

Many YWCAs offer programs and services to immigrant women and to survivors of violence. As advocates for an end to violence against women and for full racial equity, these issues are our issues. If we are going to prevent immigrant women from experiencing future sexual exploitation, we must advocate for their full rights and enfranchisement.

It is certainly not news to those involved in the movement to end violence against women that conditions of isolation like language barriers, lack of "legitimate" legal status, and economic dependence are the fastest incubator for exploitation and violence.

Does your YW have programs, resources, or expertise on these issues? If so, please share thoughts and ideas for action in the comments section.


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The article below from the Des Moines Register describes the conditions of women workers in Postville:

Advocates: Workers allege sexual abuse
By JENNIFER JACOBS • jejacobs@dmreg.com • May 20, 2008

Reports that there was an expectation of sexual favors at Agriprocessors Inc. are beginning to emerge from workers at the Postville meat processing plant, and advocates for immigrants are trying to document the stories.Sister Mary McCauley, a Roman Catholic nun at St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville, said workers have said that "there was sexual abuse, that there's propositioning."

Women Rarely Receive Domestic Violence Services in Welfare Offices

Women in welfare offices rarely receive domestic violence services, according to a recent University of Washington analysis of the implementation of the Family Violence Option (FVO) (see Taryn Lindhorst, Marcia Meyers, and Erin Casey, Screening for Domestic Violence in Public Welfare Offices: An Analysis of Case Manager and Client Interactions, VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, Jan. 2008, available at http://vaw.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/14/1/5). High rates of domestic violence are known among welfare recipients, and the welfare office is a vital location for providing women with resources toward financial independence.

A state option in the 1996 federal welfare reform law, the FVO helps domestic violence survivors move from welfare to work. The FVO allows states increased flexibility in applying the requirements of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to families affected by domestic violence without states being penalized financially. When states adopt the FVO, they are agreeing to

• screen applicants and recipients of TANF for domestic violence while maintaining confidentiality;
• provide referrals to counseling and supportive services;
• and make good-cause waivers from TANF program requirements.

Waivers are to be granted where the requirements would make it harder for TANF recipients to escape domestic violence or where the requirements would unfairly penalize past, present, or potential victims of domestic violence. Program requirements that may be waived include the 60-month lifetime limit on receiving TANF assistance and mandatory work requirements.

See the full article from the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.

Anonymous Rape Tests Are Going Nationwide

The Associated Press By KRISTEN WYATT – May 13 2008
ELKTON, Md. (AP) — Starting next year across the country, rape victims too afraid or too ashamed to go to police can undergo an emergency-room forensic rape exam, and the evidence gathered will be kept on file in a sealed envelope in case they decide to press charges.
The new federal requirement that states pay for "Jane Doe rape kits" is aimed at removing one of the biggest obstacles to prosecuting rape cases: Some women are so traumatized they don't come forward until it is too late to collect hair, semen or other samples.
Click Here for the complete article from the Associated Press