RADAR ALERT:
Don't Let N.O.W.'s Voice Be The Only One Congress Hears On VAWA

In late September, different bills to reauthorize VAWA for the next 5 years were passed by the House and the Senate. The House bill includes language stating that VAWA is gender neutral.

Separate from that, a bill to provide continuing funding for VAWA programs for the next year has now passed both the House and the Senate and was signed into law by the President on November 22nd. This one year continuing funding bill contains no mention that Congress intends VAWA to be gender neutral.

Meanwhile, the differing versions of the 5 year reauthorization bills must still be reconciled in conference committee before a final vote to make them law. N.O.W. recently called on their members to launch a massive telephone campaign urging Congress to form the conference committee when they reconvene in early December, and even though the current levels of funding provide women's advocacy programs nearly a billion dollars per year, N.O.W. is instructing their members to ask for still more programs.

It's a safe bet that N.O.W.'s members will not be asking Congress to make sure the bills allocate funding to programs that focus on male victims of domestic violence, or that the 835,000 men victimized per year should be included in the list of underserved populations. Only you can do that.

It's also a safe bet that N.O.W.'s members will not be objecting to provisions which deny new organizations funding unless they partner with currently-funded women's organizations. These provisions give organizations that are unsympathetic or outright hostile to male victims, a virtual lock on all funding.

And finally, it's a safe bet that N.O.W.'s members will not be demanding that Congress prohibit VAWA funds from being used for any political purpose.

Congress will be hearing from N.O.W.'s members. They need to hear from you too. If your own legislators are included in the list below, please call them. Otherwise, please call the Senate and House leadership.

Tell them:

"Since HR2682, providing basic funding for VAWA, was signed into law on Nov. 22, it's far more important for the conference committee to fix what's wrong with VAWA than to rush it through. Please make sure the final bill allocates funding to programs that focus on male victims of domestic violence, without requiring them to partner with the established male-hostile organizations. And please make sure the final bill explicitly prohibits any recipient of VAWA funds from using those funds for any political purpose whatsoever."

As always, be courteous and respectful when you call.

If Congress doesn't hear from you NOW, there's no reason for them not to do N.O.W.'s bidding. So don't put this off. Make the call today!

It's particularly important for legislators to hear from their own constituents. So if any Congressman or Senator in the list below represents your district, call your own legislator. If not, call the Congressional leadership, whose names are marked with an asterisk.

Date of RADAR Release: November 28, 2005

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R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's approach to solving domestic violence. http://www.mediaradar.org