Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

Men, Your Moment to End Gender-Based Violence Is Now

One in three women globally experiences extreme violence, often inflicted by male partners. Recent tragedies underscore how pervasive this violence is. Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei was brutally set aflame by her partner. Days earlier, the world was shocked by the brutal rape and murder of a young trainee doctor in India. The recent case in France of Dominique Pelicot who drugged, tortured and gang-raped his wife Gisele for over four decades, is horrifying.

Men, your moment is now. The world needs you to rise to the challenge of ending this violence.

We Heart: This Social Campaign Is Taking ‘Man or Bear’ to the Next Level

Since its original posting, the ‘man or bear’ debate has surpassed social media, reaching mainstream media outlets, personal essays and pop culture references. Now, the campaign “What We Carry” is further expanding on the conversations surrounding women’s security. It features portraits of real women holding the objects they carry every day to ensure their safety, such as pepper spray or their phones.

Not only does the campaign bring attention to and question this systemic issue of violence, it provides resources so vulnerable individuals can protect their safety. No one should have to prepare for the worst-case scenario every time they leave the house—regardless of man, bear or any other reason. 

Thirty Years of the Violence Against Women Act Shows Progress Is Possible

On a long list of issues in the newly released survey, women identified domestic and sexual violence as the third most important one facing U.S. women collectively, behind abortion access and cost of living.

As we mark the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act today, it’s worth remembering one lesson that law teaches: Progress is possible.  

Democratic Party Platform Centers Women’s Rights

At the DNC in Chicago, party leaders approved the 2024 Democratic party platform Monday evening, promising to protect and strengthen women’s rights. The 91-page document is a stark contrast to the Republican platform, which promises to continue the dismantling of women’s rights started during Donald Trump’s first term in office.

Here are some of the parts of the Democratic party platform focused on women’s rights—including restoring abortion access, protecting contraception access, and making the Equal Rights Amendment the law of the land.

The Violence Against Women Act Turns 29. There’s More Work to Do.

Twenty-nine years ago, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), finally putting the full force of our federal government into efforts to stop domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking to help survivors. VAWA was transformative. In the years after it was enacted, domestic violence against adult women in the United States declined by more than 60 percent.

The pandemic set us back, and there’s much more work to do. We will keep working to improve VAWA, and to support the Biden administration’s National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action, a truly groundbreaking whole-of-government approach to addressing and preventing violence of all kinds. 

The Supreme Court’s Blindness to Gender Violence

If you thought the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade was the end of the Court’s war on women, think again. Now gender violence laws are under attack. Case in point: last term’s decision in Counterman v. Colorado striking down a stalking conviction as unconstitutional. This upcoming term, the Court is poised to deal another blow to domestic violence laws, in a case about guns: United States v. Rahimi.

The only answer is for women to return to a newly vital project since Dobbs: the Equal Rights Amendment.

(This article originally appears in the Fall 2023 issue of Ms. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get issues delivered straight to your mailbox!)

‘Fireman’ v. ‘Firefighter’: These Lawmakers Want Less Gendered Language in the Law

Some lawmakers want to change the masculine default in government documents. Reps. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) are introducing legislation that would replace masculine generics with gender-neutral language in the U.S. legal code.

The Equality in Our Laws Act would direct the Office of Law Revision Counsel (OLRC) to to make non-substantive, gender-neutral revisions to many portions of the legal code.

The Senate Must Recognize the ERA to Protect Survivors of Gender-Based Violence

Nearly one in three women have experienced physical violence by an intimate partner. But in 2000, in the case of U.S. v. Morrison, the Supreme Court decided to leave survivors of gender-based violence to this day without the legal tools necessary to sue their attackers for damages or other relief in federal court.

One hundred years ago, women’s rights activists introduced the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to guarantee equal rights for women under the U.S. Constitution. On Thursday, April 27, the Senate will vote on the ERA. Among many other benefits to the law, this vote also represents an opportunity to protect survivors of gender-based violence—which, even in today’s heated political climate, commands bipartisan concern and support.

Feminists and Friends Reflect on Pat Schroeder’s Legacy

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Since the news broke about Pat Schroeder’s death on March 14, there have been thousands of tributes, obituaries, tweets and social media postings in her honor. They described her as a maverick, pioneer, feminist champion, trailblazer, fearlessly independent politician, and an icon and role model for many elected officials, men and women. We agree—but for the feminist movement, Pat Schroeder was much more. On March 22, 2023, the House of Representatives will honor Schroeder with a moment of silence. In honor of this one minute—60 seconds—of silence, we’ve compiled 60 stories from people who knew and admired Pat Schroeder.

“Pat was best known for being a fierce advocate for women. And many young women asked her for advice. She told them to make sure women were in rooms where decisions were being made. And if they were not, to kick the door down and hold the door open for those behind them.”