[feminist] VAWA House action

Boehner, Cantor, and the other GOP/TeaBagger leadership have created a counter Violence Against Women Act. We are asking these targets (democrats and women) to co-sponsor HR 11, the comprehensive VAWA-- not the conservative VAWA. The conservative VAWA excludes LGBTQ, Native Americans, sex trafficking victims, and not-unblocking the rape kit backlog.

sample tweets in English and Spanish:

• 1 in 3 #NativeAmerican #women are victims of #sexualassault during their life. We all deserve a comprehensive #VAWA
• Promueve HR11 porque todavia hay gente muriendo por violencia domestica. #dv #VAWA
• 2 in 5 black #women will be sexually abused during her lifetime. Sponsor HR11 now! #VAWA
• 2 de cada 5 mujeres negras seran abusadas sexualmente en el transcurso de su vida. Promueve HR11 ahora! #VAWA
• #LGBT survivors face the same rates of #DV & #SA as all – so #VAWA must include them too. Sponsor HR11!
• #LGBT enfrentan la misma tasa de #DV & #SA como los demas-por eso #VAWA incluirlos tambien. Promueve HR11!
  

AL	Roby, Martha	R	RepMarthaRoby	202-225-2901
FL	Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana	R	RosLehitinen	202-225-3931
GA	Barrow, John	D	repjohnbarrow	202-225-2823
IL	Lipinski, Daniel	D	RepLipinski	202-225-5701
IN	Walorski, Jackie	R	RepWalorski	202-225-3915
IN	Brooks, Susan W.	R	SusanWBrooks	202-225-2276
KS	Jenkins, Lynn	R	RepLynnJenkins	202-225-6601
MI	Miller, Candice	R	CandiceMiller	202-225-2106
MN	Bachmann, Michele	R	MicheleBachmann	202-225-2331
MN	Peterson, Collin C.	D	no twitter	202-225-2165
MO	Wagner, Ann	R	RepAnnWagner	202-225-1621
MO	Hartzler, Vicky	R	RepHartzler	202-225-2876
NC	Ellmers, Renee	R	RepReneeEllmers	202-225-4531
NC	Foxx, Virginia	R	virginiafoxx	202-225-2071
NC	McIntyre, Mike	D	RepMikeMcIntyre	202-225-2731
SD	Noem, Kristi	R	RepKristiNoem	202-225-2801
TN	Black, Diane	R	repDianeBlack	202-225-4231
TN	Blackburn, Marsha	R	MarshaBlackburn	202-225-2811
TX	Granger, Kay	R	RepKayGranger	202-225-5071
UT	Bishop, Rob	R	no twitter	202-225-0453
UT	Matheson, Jim	D	RepJimMatheson	202-225-3011
WA	Herrera Beutler, Jaime	R	HerreraBeutler	202-225-3536
WA	McMorris Rodgers, Cathy	R	cathymcmorris	202-225-2006
WV	Capito, Shelley Moore	R	RepShelley	202-225-2711
WY	Lummis, Cynthia M.	R	CynthiaLummis	202-225-2311

[feminist] senate shit list

These 22 Republican and Tea Party men voted against re-authorizing the Violence Against Women Act in the Senate. 8 of them voted against bringing up the VAWA for debate and vote at all.

The bill authorizes $659 million over five years for VAWA programs; expands VAWA to include new protections for LGBT and Native American victims; give more attention to sexual assault prevention and to help reduce a backlog in processing rape kits. Created in 1994, VAWA has helped to strengthen programs and services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.

[feminist] "Human Traffick"

In honor of human trafficking awareness month, I watched part one of "Human Traffick" last night. It follows the stories of three women/girls-- a single mom in Prague, Czech Republic; a 16 year old student from Kiev, Ukraine; and a 12 year old American tourist visiting Manila, Philippines.

 Helena, the single mom is courted by a handsome man and agrees to get a passport and travel to Vienna, Austria with him. Upon arrival he delivers her to the traffickers for cash and immediately leaves. Nadia is the 16 year old student from Kiev who is recruited to come to America by an eastern European modeling agency. Her mother died several years before, and she lives in a small house with her father who doesn't want her to leave the country. She ends up sneaking away to go with the modeling agency and its other modeling victims. Helena arrives in New York with the modeling group, and they are taken to a strip club-- their passports and papers are taken away, they are stripped down to their underclothes, and told that they have to work as sex slaves until their debt (of passports, visas, plane tickets, all with interest) are paid off. They are sent to different brothels and moved around the area fairly regularly to avoid being caught.

In Manila we see every parent's nightmare: 12 year old Annie is snatched from her mother at the busy market, thrown into the back of a Jeep and driven away. Annie's mother continues to work with the police to try to find her daughter, and eventually her husband has to return home to work. We get a first-hand glimpse of what we usually only hear about in the news. Annie is taken to a brothel in Manila, catering to American/European tourists. We are also introduced to a young girl who is sold by her father into the brothel-- he has too many bills to pay, and he feels he has no choice but to sell her. We also see a very young boy swept away to cater to a client's needs, and then returned to the communal bedroom beaten, bruised, and crying.