The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) aims to address violence against women and girls through U.S. foreign policy. I-VAWA was introduced in Congress in 2010 to prevent violence, support services for victims, and authorize training to protect women from abuse globally. It would help address human rights violations and public health issues resulting from violence that affects over 1 in 3 women worldwide. Passing I-VAWA could have positive social and economic impacts by creating opportunities for women and reducing obstacles to overcoming poverty.

1. Urge Congress to Pass:
I-VAWA
INTERNATIONALVIOLENCE AGAINSTWOMEN ACT

2. General Overview
• I-VAWA aims to address violence against women and girls through U.S. foreign
policy.
• This bill is a reaction to the violence perpetrated against women throughout the
world. If implemented, it would have a very positive impact at a global level (and in
some form at a national level, since we are all interconnected, after all).
• This policy would directly affect the female population throughout the world (in
particular, women of developing countries). However, since it would create better
mothers, wives, sisters, and women of any type, it would also have a positive
impact on the male population.

3. • How did this bill come about?
• The International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA, H.R. 4594, S. 2982) was re-
introduced in the 111th Congress by bipartisan teams in the House and the Senate
on February 4th, 2010. In the House, the bill was introduced by Representative Bill
Delahunt (D-MA), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Europe and
Representative Ted Poe (R-TX), Co-chair of the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus.
In the Senate, the bill was introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Chair of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senators Boxer (D-CA), Collins (R-ME) and
Snowe (R-ME). An event to mark introduction took place at the Kennedy Caucus
Room in the Russell Senate Office Building. (UN-Women website)

4. What inspired this bill?The knowledge of
women abuse worldwide, such as:
• One in three women throughout the world will be a victim of abuse in her
lifetime. Abuse towards women reaches 70% in some countries.
• During conflict, rape is often used as a tool of war.
• In some countries, one-third of women report that their first sexual experience
was forced.
• Violence against women takes many forms...It is a global health crisis, human
rights violation, and moral outrage that contributes to instability and insecurity
throughout our world.
(From UN-Women and Futures Without Violence websites)

5. Violent Acts AgainstWomen and Girls:
• Rape
• Female Genital Cutting
• Domestic Violence
• Acid Burning
• Dowry Deaths
• "Honor Killings"
• Female Feticide/Infanticide
• Trafficking
• Forced Abortion and/or Forced Sterilization

6. Why is this such a big deal?
• It is a human rights violation.
• It creates a public health epidemic (i.e., women suffering from HIV or AIDS who are
not being treated).
• It has a negative socioeconomic impact on the country where the violation occurs.
• It creates obstacles for overcoming extreme poverty.
• Even at times of peace, women and girls may be in constant danger due to the
ongoing (and accepted) abuse.

7. What does I-VAWA aim to accomplish?
• Preventive efforts such as economic and education opportunity programs to ensure
that women avoid becoming a victim of abuse.
• It supports intervention services such as healthcare for women who have
contracted HIV/AIDS as a result of being raped.
• It authorizes the training of US and foreign military so that they are better trained
on how to protect women from violence.
• It provides support to local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) who are
already fighting violence against women.
(From UN-Women website)

8. What is the relationship of this issue to the
field of SocialWork?
• In regards to the NationalAssociation of SocialWorkers Code of Ethics, some of the
elements that are addressed by the social work profession are: cultural competence, social
diversity, respect, discrimination, and social & political action.This bill makes an effort to
address the above ethics.
• The social worker is an advocate for the clients. In this case, women worldwide would be
the clients.Thus, taking action towards attaining their justice is paramount.
• Social justice goes hand in hand with the social work profession.This bill is a clear
representation of the machinery of social justice.
• Community organizing is an elemental part of social work.This bill has been introduced
thanks to the organization of various communities.

9. What is the National Association of Social
Workers (NASW) doing about it?
• NASW is urging Congress to support and pass I-VAWA.
• The NASW website has some background and overall information about
this bill, such as the history, its aims, and the action requested from the rest
of us.
• There are some clear links to be able to follow up on this issue, if the
average person may be interested when browsing the NASW website.

10. Before doing this assignment, what did you know about the
policy issues you researched? Has this assignment helped
you better understand the issues or confused the issues
further? Why or why not?
• Before this assignment I knew very little about this issue. In particular, I had no
idea how pervasive violent acts towards women really are, and how they affect
women in less fortunate countries.
• This assignment certainly helped to understand this issue.Through the
research, it became very clear how violence towards women can take many
forms, and how it affects the world both at a social and at an economical level.

11. Has doing this project changed your mind about the
direction that you may take in the field of human services
generally or social work more specifically? If so, how? If
not, how did this project help solidify your thinking about
the direction you may take in the field?
• Doing this project reminded me of the importance to remain socially active. I
tend to engage in meditation practice to the point that I forget that outward
action is equally important.Thus, this presentation reminded me to also stay
abreast of some of the social justice issues present in the world.
• One of the ways in which I can currently take action is by spreading the word of
these issues, as well as volunteering.
• In short, this presentation reminded me to continue to become further educated
on the many social justice issues, in order to take effective action.

12. Evaluate the resources you used as you completed this
assignment. What did you find most useful? Why? What
was least useful? Why? What would make this resource
better?
• The main resource that I used was the web in general, and google in
particular.There were various websites that helped me navigate this issue.
The main websites that I visited are: UNWomen, FuturesWithoutViolence,
and US Amnesty International.
• The main slide presentation software that I have always used is PowerPoint.
Thus, Prezi and the other formats of presentation seemed a tad
overwhelming. However, I found out that there is a way to import
PowerPoint into Prezi and Slideshare. It may be helpful to mention this to
future students. It is more straightforward to prepare the slides in
PowerPoint and then upload them afterwards.

13. Other resources that I used:
• Investigating this issue inspired me to watch some documentaries in Netflix.
Although I did not include the material from the documentaries in this slide
presentation. I encourage others who may be interested in the issue to
watch the following, which may also lead to other links of documentaries of
a similar nature :
• it's a girl
• Miss Representation
• Chasing Beauty

14. Web links for everyone's easy access:
• http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights/violence-against-
women/international-violence-against-women-act
• http://cqrcengage.com/socialworkers/app/write-a-letter?2&engagementId=48923
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Violence_Against_Women_Act
• http://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/section/ivawa
• http://www.naswdc.org/pubs/code/code.asp
• https://www.unwomen-usnc.org/ivawa

15. References:
Code of Ethics (English and Spanish). (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2014, from
http://www.naswdc.org/pubs/code/code.asp
InternationalViolence Against Women Act. (2014, May 07). Retrieved July 20, 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Violence_Against_Women_Act
Let's Pass I-VAWA! (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2014, from
http://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/section/ivawa
Support the InternationalViolence AgainstWomen Act (I-VAWA). (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2014,
from http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights/violence-against-
women/international-violence-against-women-act
Urge Congress to Support and Pass I-VAWA! (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2014, from
http://cqrcengage.com/socialworkers/app/write-a-letter?2&engagementId=48923
(n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2014, from https://www.unwomen-usnc.org/ivawa