This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider legislation that would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the largest policy effort aimed at responding to and preventing domestic violence. First passed in 1994, VAWA supports comprehensive, cost-saving responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.
HERvotes
The #HERvotes campaign for women to vote in 2012 to preserve our health and economic rights
HERvotes Blog Carnival: Protecting Unemployment Benefits
Welcome to the seventh #HERvotes blog carnival! Today the coalition tackles the need to protect women and employment during these tough economic times, with a focus on the importance of extending Unemployment Insurance (UI) before the December 31st deadline. It is critical that Congress acts before the end of this calendar year to renew federal […]
Extend Unemployment Benefits, But Don’t Stop There
Nearly 2 million Americans will see their unemployment benefits expire in January if Congress doesn’t act to renew them. Some 430,000 of these workers lost their jobs as recently as July. An extension of benefits is a basic necessity for a country in the midst of a crisis of long-term unemployment: Rates have not been […]
Should Organized Religion Have More Rights Than Women?
Right now, Catholic bishops, charities, schools and universities are demanding exemptions from new rules requiring that insurance plans cover contraception for women, free of charge. And President Obama is listening, even as Congressional Democrats object. The demand for exemptions is based on moral and religious grounds. Religious rights, it’s claimed. But about women’s religious rights? […]
#HERvotes Carnival: Women vs. the Bishops
Welcome to the sixth #HERvotes blog carnival! This time we are speaking out on the effort by the Catholic bishops to allow some institutions to refuse, under the Affordable Care Act, birth control coverage without co-pays to students and employees of hospitals, universities and other institutions, or other religious affiliated or connected institutions such as […]
Is Obama Caving to Bishops Out of Misplaced “Gratitude?”
According to an inside scoop from RHReality Check, President Obama is leaning toward bowing to pressure from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to exempt religiously affiliated organizations from mandatory birth control coverage. This would mean that organizations that aren’t actual churches–such as colleges, universities and hospitals–would get out of covering birth control in insurance […]
So Sorry, Rachel, There Is Still Sexual Harassment
To my dear granddaughter Rachel, At less than a year old, you are a bit young to hear this message. The immediate challenges ahead of you include walking and talking. But this is one of those topics that there is never really a good time to discuss. While I hope you never experience this, forewarned […]
Contrarian Views on Sex Harassment: Dangerous, Not Funny
Herman Cain’s campaign has raked in donations even after a handful of damning sexual harassment allegations have surfaced. Penn State students rallied and rioted on behalf of their coach, even after it was revealed that he failed to report a witnessed child rape to the police. Our rape culture, our misunderstanding of the way assault […]
Bullying Vs. Sexual Harassment—Do You Know the Difference?
Despite headlines that label all harassment in schools as bullying, there is a difference between sexual harassment and bullying. And it’s an important one. When schools, the media and the public mislabel sexual harassment as bullying, they negate the role that sex and gender play in the abusive behavior. Bullying is not based on a […]
HERvotes Carnival: Fighting Sexual Harassment
Welcome to the fifth #HERvotes blog carnival. This time we’re focusing on the need to keep strong the laws and public policies to end sex discrimination and sexual harassment in schools and in the workplace. HERvotes, a multi-organizational campaign launched in August 2011, advocates that women must use our voices and votes to stop the […]