Now-NYC Launches Campaign to Protect Threatened Violence Against Women Act

On Monday, March 20 at 11:30 a.m. at Bowling Green Fountain, NOW-NYC's Take Rape Seriously NOW campaign kicks off, to protect women and preserve VAWA funding.

The National Organization for Women-New York (NOW-NY) will host a kick-off press conference announcing the launch of their Take Rape Seriously NOW Campaign, aimed at fighting back against President Trump's and Attorney General Session's anti-women agenda and the threats already being made against funding for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). President Trump's team -- unapologetic for his "locker room" talk and humiliating attacks on women -- has already alluded to defunding the program's 25 VAWA state programs in a recent budget blueprint from the Heritage Foundation.

Attending the event are Sonia Ossorio, president of NOW-NY; Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney; VAWA recipient organizations (Mary Haviland, NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault; Judge Judy Kluger, Sanctuary for Families; Jennifer Becker, Legal Momentum; Antonia Clemente, The Healing Center); survivors; and NOW members. Members of Congress have also been invited.

VAWA has transformed the way government responds to domestic and sexual violence and has served as a model around the world. New York State has benefited tremendously from VAWA grants. In 2016 alone, the state received $7.7 million in federal funding, and increase of $662,000 to support survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault through programs offered by non-profit organizations, hospitals and law enforcement agencies across the state.

This campaign will call on the New York congressional delegation to continue to fully fund VAWA, implement VAWA with the vigor of every other administration since its inception in 1994, and to oppose any legislation or budget cuts that would seek to dismantle the rights of women.

The press conference will take place just steps away from the Fearless Girl monument and the offices of several local VAWA recipients who provide vital support to women of all races, immigration status, ages, and gender identity.

NOW-NY advocates for the women and girls of New York, by working to defend reproductive rights, fight economic inequality, and end discrimination and violence against women. As the largest NOW chapter in the country, they play a key role in shaping both the local and national debate on the issues that impact women.

For more information, visit http://nownyc.org