It's International Women's Day: Let's Pass the International Violence Against Women Act

by Aimee Sea · 2010-03-08 11:39:00 UTC
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Here's your history lesson of the day: International Women's Day was conceived in 1910 at a Denmark conference on working women. On the first IWD in 1911, Denmark was one of only four countries celebrating it. Today, IWD is celebrated all over the world and is an national holiday in 15 countries, including Russia, China, and Vietnam. A quick look at the IWD website shows nearly 700 events ranging from protests to film festivals. Woot.

Clearly there's no one right way to mark the occasion, but I encourage you to take action in support of the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA). Alex DiBranco told you a month ago about IVAWA, and Meredith Slater in Global Health has also written about the importance passing this act. Amnesty International, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, and Women Thrive Worldwide are all mounting campaigns in support of IVAWA.

At the moment, the bill has been referred to the relevant committees in both houses of Congress. Over 25% of the Senate are cosponsors, including 9 of the 11 majority members on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (what's up with Feingold and Webb?). In the House, the bill has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs (chaired by cosponsor Howard Berman) and has cosponsoring committee members on both sides of the aisle.

It's not law yet, and we have got a ways to go -- so please take a minute to help. You can sign a petition to Congres right here at Change.org. Is there a better way to honor the women of the world than helping stop violence against women? Tell Congress to Pass the International Violence Against Women Act.

Photo from International Women's Day

Aimee Sea is a proud New Englander who blogs about global women's rights and whatever else happens to catch her eye.
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