Promote Federal Legislation to Support survivors of gender-based violence
YWCA believes that all women deserve to live free from violence, abuse, and threats. However, violence against women continues to impact the lives of countless women and their families across the United States. Women and girls of all ages, income levels, racial and ethnic communities, sexual orientations, gender identities, and religious affiliations experience violence in the form of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, and trafficking.
What are the barriers?
Victims and survivors of violence face many barriers to accessing resources and safety, including the lack of a financial safety net, lack of community support, religious and cultural barriers, fear of deportation, lack of awareness or knowledge of the legal system and their rights, lack of adequate childcare services, and the inability to secure low-cost housing.
YWCA position
As the largest provider of domestic violence services in the United States, YWCA supports legislation and public policies that protect survivors, hold perpetrators accountable, and work to eradicate sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, trafficking in women and girls, and dating violence. Specifically, we support the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), the Family Violence Prevention Act (FVPSA), and other legislation that is inclusive of the needs of all victims of violence, particularly those who often experience higher risks of violence, such as native women, immigrants, communities of color, and LGBQ/TGNC survivors.