Advocates Lobbying For Passage Of International Violence Against Women Act

"Supporters of the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) are ramping up their lobbying efforts as Congress prepares to bring the measure to a vote," The Hill reports. More than a dozen organizations and advocacy groups have written a letter requesting the support of Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio. The bill currently has two Republican sponsors in the senate and "advocates say his support will be vital to obtaining the desired amount of funding from Congress: up to $1.3 billion over five years," the newspaper writes.  

The bill is "designed to combat violence against women and girls through all relevant U.S. foreign policy efforts, including international aid programs, and require the administration to produce a strategy designed to 'measurably reduce violence against women,'" The Hill writes. The bill has 28 co-sponsors in the Senate and 112 in the House, and advocates like Ritu Sharma, president and co-founder of Women Thrive Worldwide, are "confident the bill will pass" (Stiles, 7/11).