[[link removed]] Ms. Memo: This Week in Women's Rights
October 4, 2023
From the ongoing fight for abortion rights and access, to elections, to the drive for the Equal Rights Amendment, there are a multitude of battles to keep up with. In this weekly roundup, find the absolute need-to-know news for feminists.
The Violence Against Women Act Turns 29. There’s More Work to Do. [[link removed]]
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President Joe Biden shares a moment with Kathy Sherlock (left), on March 16, 2022. Sherlock’s daughter Kayden was killed by her father during an unsupervised weekend visit ordered by the court. The event marked the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which Biden helped to write in 1994 when he was a senator on Capitol Hill. (Alex Wong / Getty Images)
BY ESTA SOLER | It was a huge, meaningful victory. A historic event. The culmination of years of tireless advocacy. A true inflection point.
Twenty-nine years ago, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), finally putting the full force of our federal government into efforts to stop domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking to help survivors.
*
This
landmark
law
provided
funds
for
urgently
needed
services
and
improved
legal
responses.
*
It
launched
the
work
of
creating
a
coordinated
community
response,
bringing
healthcare
providers,
schools
and
other
institutions
into
the
work
to
prevent
gender-based
violence
and
heal
those
harmed
by
it.
*
It
reshaped
our
criminal
justice
system,
introducing
training
for
judges
and
law
enforcement,
which
were
largely
failing
survivors.
*
It
set
the
stage
for
the
National
Domestic
Violence
Hotline
and
funded
the
Office
of
Violence
Against
Women
at
the
U.S.
Department
of
Justice.
Enactment of VAWA was a hard-won, improbable victory. In all the years before it, most people facing domestic violence and sexual assault had to rely on friends and family members, seek out shelters that were often underground and barely funded, or simply go without help. Emergency rooms routinely treated survivors and sent them right back home to face further abuse.
Many of the brave, valiant souls who were supporting survivors realized that we couldn’t keep doing this work on a shoestring. Domestic violence was a pervasive problem, in some way affecting every family and community. Depending on local organizers to provide emergency housing and services with whatever resources they could muster was wholly inadequate. Put simply, we were losing lives we didn’t have to lose.
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Read more
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The Supreme Court’s Blindness to Gender Violence [[link removed]] Upcoming SCOTUS Case Exposes Domestic Violence Victims to New Risks [[link removed]]
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‘Hysterical’ Women Out for Revenge: Family Court’s Misogynistic Tropes Traumatize Women and Children [[link removed]] War on Women Report: Abortions Resume in Wisconsin; How Republicans Plan to Enable Anti-Abortion Violence [[link removed]]
What we're reading
Because it's hard to keep up with everything going on in the world right now. Here's what we're reading this week:
*
"‘Feels
horrible
to
say
no’:
abortion
funds
run
out
of
money
as
US
demand
surges”
—
The
Guardian
[[link removed]]
*
"Laphonza
Butler
tapped
to
fill
Dianne
Feinstein’s
Senate
seat"
—
The
19th
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[link removed] [[link removed]] Tune in for a new episode of Ms. magazine's podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin on Apple Podcasts [[link removed]] + Spotify [[link removed]] .
Fifty years ago, hip-hop emerged from a party in the rec room of a Bronx building—and a new sound was born: one with roots in African music, but with its own vibe and messaging. Since its first iterations, women have played significant roles in the creation and evolution of hip-hop: as rappers, DJs, producers, breakdancers, graffiti artists, scholars, journalists and more. Michele Goodwin , Drew Dixon and Janell Hobson break down the past, present and future of hip-hop, and the crucial role of women.
We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!
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