The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) applauds the Senate for working in a bipartisan manner to pass the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2013, S. 47.  The Senate bill incorporates input gathered from more than 2,000 victim advocacy groups, service providers and criminal justice professionals.  We are pleased that the bill allocates critical resources needed to hold perpetrators accountable as well as expand services and protections to more victims from marginalized communities–including LGBTQ, Native and immigrant.

 

NCADV expresses sincere gratitude for the 78 Senators who voted favorably and for their courage of conviction to stand with victims.  NCADV most especially thanks Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) for their tireless and unwavering leadership in shepherding this bill through the Senate.

 

As the bill advances in Congress, it is our hope that the House of Representatives will follow the Senate’s model example of bipartisanship and work expeditiously with us and the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence to put forth the best policy benefiting all victims.

 

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) has worked for more than thirty-four years to end violence against women by raising awareness and educating the public about the effects of domestic abuse. Our work includes developing and sustaining ground-breaking public policy at the national level and assisting the 2,000+ urban and rural shelters and programs at the local, state, and regional levels of the nation in the programming they offer to victims seeking safety and assistance. Currently, our constituency encompasses more than 50,000 programs and individuals and is growing daily.   

 

Adopted from the NCADV website: www.ncadv.org