Q&A: Basic
What is the International Violence Against Women Act?
The International Violence Against Women Act (S. 2279) is a piece of legislation now pending before the U.S. Congress that represents an unprecedented commitment by the U.S. government to address and ultimately end violence against women and girls globally. It would for the first time create a comprehensive approach by the United States to fight violence against women and girls internationally and commit serious financial resources to the effort.
Specifically, I-VAWA directs the U.S. government to create a comprehensive, 5-year strategy to reduce violence in 10-20 diverse countries that have severe levels of violence against women and girls. To achieve this goal, the Act allocates more than $1 billion in U.S. assistance over 5 years and makes ending violence against women and girls a U.S. diplomatic priority. Importantly, the bill also expands U.S. support and capacity for overseas nongovernmental organizations - particularly women's nongovernmental organizations - working to end violence against women and girls in their own countries.
What exactly do you mean by violence against women and girls?
The legislation uses the United Nations Secretary General's definition of violence against women and girls. It is defined as: "any act of gender-based violence against women or girls committed because of their gender that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life."
This means the violence could occur in the family (battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence), within the general community (rape, sexual abuse in school or at work, forced prostitution, female genital mutilation/cutting and other traditional practices harmful to women), or it could be perpetrated or condoned by state agents.
Is violence against women and girls a major problem?
Violence against women is a worldwide human rights violation and a public health epidemic that knows no cultural, national or ethnic boundaries. At least one out of every three women in the world will be beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women. One billion women and girls are affected by such violence, including rape, domestic violence, acid burning, dowry deaths, so-called honor killings, human trafficking, female genital cutting and other harmful practices. In some countries, close to 70 percent of women report such violence, and in times of conflict mass rape is often used as a weapon of war.
How was I-VAWA created?
I-VAWA was initiated by a coalition of nongovernmental organizations led by Amnesty International USA, Family Violence Prevention Fund, and Women Thrive Worldwide (formerly Women's Edge Coalition) in 2005 to increase U.S. governmental efforts to end violence against women and girls internationally. It is the result of extensive research on what works: it was drafted in consultation with more than 150 groups including U.S.-based NGOs, U.N. agencies and 40 women's groups across the globe. I-VAWA (S.2279) was introduced in the U.S. Senate on October 31, 2007 by Senators Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) and Richard Lugar (R-Indiana).
How will women be helped if this legislation is passed?
In many cases local women's organizations who have been working for years to assist women and girls affected by violence in their countries will finally get the help they deserve. Funding, programmatic support and capacity building will focus on both prevention, such as economic opportunity programs and public education campaigns to change attitudes, and intervention services such as health care for women who have been raped and may become infected with HIV/AIDS. In addition, funding will go to help change laws and cultural practices such as those that allow rape or forbid women from having their own money to feed themselves and their children. I-VAWA also trains military and police forces to better respond to violence against women so that when women report violence they won't be ignored, laughed at or further victimized. Women and girls globally will also benefit from increased U.S. and world diplomatic attention as the problem of violence against women girls moves from an invisible private suffering to a public issue that governments take action to solve.
What about men and boys?
The legislation in no way prevents help or support from going to end violence against men and boys. Rather, I-VAWA recognizes the desperate inequality that is still experienced by most of the world's women and the violence that contributes to and results from that inequality. In much of the world, women and girls may still be raped and beaten with impunity and can be sold or given away to other men. They can be killed for disobedience or appearing in public with a man who is not a relative or simply for being born a girl. Many cannot vote, own property or have any rights to their own children. It is this extreme level of violence and abuse women and girls experience simply because of their gender that the legislation seeks to address.
How will I-VAWA affect U.S. foreign policy?
For the first time, U.S. diplomatic work will address this problem in a coordinated, integrated way. In addition, it requires that in cases of armed conflict where the United States is aware of mass outbreaks of violence against women and girls, such as the mass rapes of women in Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the U.S. government will have to act.
Isn't this the United States trying to impose its culture on other nations?
I-VAWA does not try to impose the cultural mores of the United States on other countries; rather it seeks to support the work of local indigenous women and communities who have long been advocating for an end to the violence and abuse experienced by women and girls. In addition, it recognizes that much of U.S. efforts to help countries address problems such as HIV/AIDS, maternal mortality, poverty and conflict are aided by addressing violence against women. In fact, these other efforts will only be successful if concurrent efforts to support women's education and empowerment are also taking place.
How does I-VAWA relate to AI's overall Stop Violence Against Women Campaign?
Amnesty International launched its global Stop Violence Against Women Campaign in 2004. For 2008, AIUSA has prioritized one major problem in the US, the rape of Native American and Alaska Native Women, and one major international initiative, the International Violence Against Women Act. I-VAWA utilizes four years of AI reporting and advocacy and operationalizes AI's recommendations for addressing violence against women in one piece of US draft legislation.
What is the difference between I-VAWA and the Treaty for the Rights of Women (CEDAW)?
The Treaty for the Rights of Women, known as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), is an international United Nations treaty while I-VAWA is a piece of U.S. legislation. The United States is the only industrialized country that has not yet ratified CEDAW, which outlines the basic right of women to be free from discrimination in all spheres of public and private life.
The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) is a brand-new draft U.S. legislation first introduced on October 31, 2007 that specifically addresses violence against women internationally by creating a comprehensive U.S. policy and funding services to prevent violence against women and help victims of violence.
What is the difference between I-VAWA and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)?
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is an existing U.S. law that addresses violence against women within the United States. I-VAWA is draft pending legislation to address violence against women and girls in foreign countries.
How is violence against women related to human trafficking?
Trafficking of persons is a global human rights problem. Victims are trafficked into a range of forced labor situations including farm work, sweatshops, domestic servitude, and sexual exploitation. Violence against women and girls is one of the underlying factors that contributes to a person's vulnerability to being trafficked, and many women face violence as they are trafficked. However, many victims of human trafficking are men and boys trafficked, so trafficking is distinct from violence against women and girls.
In addition, the United States already has existing legislation to address human trafficking. The Trafficking Victims Protect Act was passed in 2000 and has been reauthorized since then to combat all forms of human trafficking.
Where is the bill in the legislative process? What happens next?
The bill was introduced by Senators Joseph Biden and Richard Lugar, Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on October 31, 2007 during the 110th Congress. Before the bill could be voted on, Congress adjourned. As of August 2009, Amnesty is working to get IVAWA reintroduced in the 111th Congress.
