Weinstein: "Although it has taken far too long to reach this day, we commend both chambers in Congress for passing a reauthorization bill that includes better training for law enforcement, victim service providers and personnel; improved protections for women in tribal communities; stronger LGBT-inclusive provisions; easier channels for immigrant victims of domestic abuse to escape their spouse or partner; and stricter requirements regarding the handling of sexual violence and intimate partner violence on college campuses".
Contact: Sean Thibault or Sarah Krinsky
202.387.2800 | news@rac.org
Washington, DC February 28, 2013 - In response to todays bipartisan House of Representatives passage of an inclusive Violence Against Women Act, Barbara Weinstein, Associate Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:
There is no community immune to domestic violence; it occurs within the general community, within university communities, within the LGBT community, within the Native American community and within the Jewish community, among others. Overall, one in four American women is predicted to be the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner over the course of her lifetime. Efforts to prevent and address violence against women reflect the moral obligation established in Leviticus (19:16) that we "not stand idly by" but instead actively commit to ending injustices in our time.
In the decades since the initial enactment of the Violence Against Women Act, it has effectively prevented, investigated and prosecuted violent crimes targeting women. Yet there is more to be done. Although it has taken far too long to reach this day, we commend both chambers in Congress for passing a reauthorization bill that includes better training for law enforcement, victim service providers and personnel; improved protections for women in tribal communities; stronger LGBT-inclusive provisions; easier channels for immigrant victims of domestic abuse to escape their spouse or partner; and stricter requirements regarding the handling of sexual violence and intimate partner violence on college campuses.
We look forward to President Obama signing this bill into law and to enhancing the well-being of women in communities across the United States.
