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VAWA Archives – Concerned Women for America

Congress Puts LGBTQ Agenda Ahead of Women

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, the Senate passed the massive omnibus government funding bill that includes the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Reauthorization Act by a vote of 68-31.

Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC), the largest grassroots public policy women’s organization in the country, opposes the VAWA reauthorization because it fails women. VAWA prioritizes the rights for biological males self-identifying as women over the safety and privacy rights of women.

“This backroom deal voted on in the dark of night is heartbreaking for women,” said Penny Nance, CEO and President of CWALAC. “The deceptive name of this bill fails to identify its real intent – the dramatic advancement of gender ideology in federal law, including for the first-time millions of dollars in special set-asides for LGBTQ+ programs in addition to the millions already given to this identity group as a priority under existing law. All at taxpayers’ expense.  That carve-out is unprecedented and leaves women behind, again.   

“We are extremely disappointed in the eighteen Republican Senators who voted for VAWA. Our more than 500,000 members will be voicing their concerns with their Senators who voted in favor of the gargantuan bill. They were duped into thinking VAWA is about protecting women when it is the opposite.”

For media inquiries, please contact: Katie Everett, Press Secretary 571-420-2488

Congress Continues to Fail Women by Denying their Biological Reality in VAWA Protections

By | Feminist / Women's Issues, News and Events, Press Releases | No Comments

For media inquiries, contact:  

Katie Everett
(571) 420-2488
[email protected]

Washington, D.C. – Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) has a long history of championing the rights of women to be protected from sexual exploitation.   We stood strong for women survivors of rape and demanded that rape kits be prioritized in forensic testing under the Debbie Smith Act, and because we did not back down, Congress implemented promising changes for rape survivors in the 2019 reauthorization. 

Recently, we joined in urging the passage of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (H.R.4445). Its passage is a long-overdue action that reflects the all-too present disregard for the concerns and dignity of many women by elected officials. 

But the current bipartisan Senate Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization (S.3623) continues to fail women. Congress stripped women of protections on the basis of sex in the 2013 VAWA reauthorization by prioritizing rights for any biological male self-identifying as a woman over the safety and privacy rights of women.  

Female identity and status are being flouted under current federal law intended to protect women victims and survivors.  S.3623 does nothing to correct that failure. 

Women survivors of violence and sexual assault deserve the full protection of our laws for their security, not denied it.  Unfortunately, that has been the case since President Obama signed the last VAWA reauthorization into law. Like every other VAWA reauthorization introduced or passed by Congress since then, S.3623 as introduced rejects ensuring protections for women on the basis of biological sex. 

Because of VAWA’s failure to uphold its purpose to protect women, CWALAC is forced to oppose any VAWA reauthorization which fails to clarify that nothing in the intent or implementation of its provisions may be interpreted to compromise, threaten, or undermine the privacy, safety, and rights of females in order to accommodate biological men who identify as women.