Senators Boxer, Collins and Snowe Laud Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Passage of Legislation to Combat Violence Against Women

Press Release

U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe (both R-ME) today lauded the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's passage of the bipartisan International Violence Against Women Act, a comprehensive, five-year strategy to reduce the levels of violence against women and girls across the globe. The legislation passed the committee on an 11-8 vote.

The legislation was introduced by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), along with Senators Boxer, Collins and Snowe.

Senator Boxer said, "I am so pleased this landmark legislation has passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Every day, too many women and girls across the globe endure horrific acts of violence. This measure gives the United States government the tools to make international violence against women and girls a top diplomatic priority." Senator Boxer chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women's Issues.

Senator Collins said, "I have long been concerned about the treatment of women and girls throughout the world, especially in places like Afghanistan where school girls and their teachers continue to face brutal attacks in an effort to prevent them from regaining their rights and freedoms. Our legislation is an important step toward ending gender-related violence around the world. Our bill aims to make violence against women and girls internationally a top diplomatic priority of the United States and equips the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development with the resources they need to achieve this goal. We also must continue to work to uplift women and girls by enhancing their economic opportunities, ensuring their full participation in the global community. It is time to put an end to the disturbing and unacceptable practice of gender-related violence."

Senator Snowe said, "When women and girls are protected and afforded opportunities, they drive social and economic progress in the developing world. For that reason, as the international community strives to respond to conflicts and humanitarian crises, it is absolutely vital that we pay careful attention to these populations, who are most vulnerable to violence and abuse. In the past, however, our government's efforts to address international violence against women and girls has been hampered by a lack of strategic focus and integration with existing programs. To maximize our investment in these efforts, I am pleased to the Committee has voted to advance the International Violence Against Women Act of 2010, which for the first time will coordinate all State Department policies and projects to develop targeted, gender-based violence prevention and response program activities in countries with significant levels of violence against these populations."

The International Violence Against Women Act, S.2982 will:

* mandate the appointment of high-level individuals in both the State Department and USAID to be responsible for the issue;
* require interagency coordination, monitoring and evaluation of programs and regular briefings to Congress;
* provide comprehensive, five-year individual country plans for five to 20 countries with high levels of violence against women and girls;
* offer instruction on preventing and responding to violence against women and girls in Department of Defense training of foreign military, police, and judicial officials;
* provide a strong programmatic component to respond to violence against women in humanitarian relief, peacekeeping, conflict and post-conflict settings; and
* spotlight widespread violence against women and girls in real time -- such as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- by requiring the Secretary of State to develop emergency response plans.

More than 200 humanitarian, faith-based, human rights, refugee and women's organizations have voiced their support for the International Violence Against Women Act, including: Amnesty International USA, CARE, Family Violence Prevention Fund, Global AIDS Alliance, Jewish Women International, International Center for Research on Women, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran World Relief, Refugees International, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vital Voices Global Partnership, Women's Refugee Commission, Women Thrive Worldwide and World Vision.

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