Feminists for Life Celebrates Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act

Washington, DC - Feminists for Life praised Congress' reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

"Pro-life Representatives and Senators had a special responsibility to reauthorize VAWA and we thank them for standing up for women and children," said FFL president Serrin M. Foster. "Supporting the reauthorization of VAWA is the best way to demonstrate, once and for all, that pro-lifers support women and children - born and unborn."

Nearly one in three adult women experience at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood. An estimated 3.3 million children witness their mothers or female caretakers being abused. The Violence Against Women Act was enacted in 1994 with bi-partisan support. In the last six years, it has provided more than $1 billion to: bolster prosecution of child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence cases; increase funding for battered women's shelters and sexual assault crises centers; provide resources and training to police and prosecutors; and create the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

"Like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other early American feminists who opposed abortion and other forms of violence, we must get to the root of the problem. Programs funded by VAWA help us to change the current culture of violence against women and children," Foster added.