Today! Take Action to Help Pass the Violence Against Women Act

Tuesday, June 26 is a national day of action for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and we urge you to tweet and Facebook and shout from the rooftops about the importance of this bill. Need to learn more before taking action? Visit the National Taskforce to End Violence Against Women's website: http://4vawa.org/.

Since we’re in Chicago, here are some actions we can take:

1.      Make a Call  to House and Senate leadership and insist that they stop the posturing, solve the procedural problems and move quickly to conference. You can use this script:

I urge you to pass a bipartisan VAWA reauthorization bill, like S.1925, that protects ALL victims of violence-doing nothing is not an option. (VAWA has positively impacted me/my community in the following way: _______________. )  You are our leaders and we know you care about VAWA, so please find a unanimous consent motion all Senators can agree to, solve the blue slip problem, and free VAWA for final negotiations before you leave for vacation. We will not settle for stalemate. We want a final VAWA this summer so that VAWA programs and services can continue to serve victims and make our communities safer.   

Who to call:

• Your Member of Congress, (202)224-3121
• Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), (202) 225-0600
• Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), (202) 225-4000
• Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), (202) 225-0100
• Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), (202) 224-3542
• Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), (202) 224-3135
• Chair of the Democratic Conference Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), (202) 224-6542

 2. Tweet!  Be sure to use these hashtags!  #ReauthorizeVAWA, #RealVAWA and #VAWA 

Sample tweets include:

• Congress must pass the #RealVAWA bf their July 4^th vacation.  Join National 10 days of #Action4VAWA to tell them why:  http://bit.ly/Lj18KQ
• I’m joining National 10 Days of #Action4VAWA to tell Congress to pass #RealVAWA bc I want ALL survivors to be safe.  http://bit.ly/Lj18KQ
• [Fill in your Congress Person’s twitter handle]:  Pass the #RealVAWA for ALL survivors!  I’m standing up to take #Action4VAWA: http://bit.ly/Lj18KQ
• @johnboehner, HR4970 is not the #RealVAWA, take up the Senate version & protect all victims of violence!

Find more sample tweets here: http://4vawa.org/

3. Take it to Facebook!
Join the National 10 Days of Action for VAWA Facebook page and check back for updates! Post the information, flyers and posters to your Facebook page. Post survivor stories and other information about VAWA  to your FB page and check out our FB page for posts you can share.

•  “As a member of this body, as a survivor of sexual assault, battery, and from age five through my teenage years, through my early adulthood, I can tell you that it is very traumatic to be here in this body today and to find my colleagues not taking the recommended updates…” – @RepGwenMoore (D-Wis). Tell your reps to vote for the Real VAWA http://bit.ly/PIK9zJ

• LGBT people experience violence at the same rates as all communities but have fewer places to turn and face discrimination when seeking services.  VAWA must support ALL survivors!  Support survivors, support VAWA. http://4vawa.org/

Thanks for taking action!