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Next week on March 8, many of us will join others around the world to commemorate the International Women’s Day. We will pause to celebrate progress and triumphs our global community has realized to advance the wellbeing of women and girls. We will do so knowing that all is not well—that women and girls around the world continue to experience many challenges, including violence based on gender. Gender-based violence is a pernicious issue in many communities, and we must all work together to end it.
A bipartisan group of legislators in the House of Representatives has introduced the Safe from the Start Act of 2021 (H.R. 571) to prevent gender-based violence and provide early interventions at the onset of humanitarian emergencies. Introduced by Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Grace Meng (D-NY), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Chris Stewart (R-UT), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), the Safe from the Start Act will codify the Safe from the Start initiative currently administered by the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID). This initiative provides training, toolkits, and other resources to mitigate risks for gender-based violence and improves humanitarian workers’ ability to address needs of those impacted by gender-based violence in humanitarian situations. The bill enhances partnerships with local organizations to increase capacity and institutes congressional accountability measures.
Gender-based violence increases during conflict and humanitarian crises. The United Nations reports that 1 in 5 refugees or internally displaced women living in humanitarian crisis have experienced sexual abuse. In conflict situations gender-based violence is sometimes used as a weapon of war. Initiatives such as the U.S. Safe from the Start, which H.R. 571 codifies, and the Global Call to Action on Protection from Gender-based Violence in Emergencies, a multilateral initiative to advance the transformational change that ensures priority attention to the needs and rights of women and girls and gender-based violence survivors in humanitarian action, have moved this issue at the forefront of humanitarian work. It is crucial to ensure that this transformative work continues.
As Christians we believe all human beings are made in the image of God. Gender-based violence rejects the created goodness and dignity that God gives to every human creature, and as the ELCA social message on “Gender-based Violence” says, “As a church we recognize and deplore the horrific suffering caused by gender-based violence globally.”
Please take a moment to urge your Representative to co-sponsor the Safe from the Start Act of 2021 at the ELCA Action Center.
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