20 October 2006. A campaign sponsored by the Women’s Edge Coalition, Amnesty International USA and the Family Violence Prevention Fund is starting to help the global community fight violence against women. This campaign is seeking to change American policy regarding international women’s rights and to focus more attention on integration of helping women in the international community through programs already in effect. The legislation to be introduced in 2007, the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA), is being written with input from many national and international organizations and will focus on the ways the pre-existing multi-billion dollar international assistance programs can change the status of women in developing countries by helping to eliminate violence. One-third of women internationally are victims of violence, and in certain countries, this is as high as 70%. Assistance from these funded programs would be able to help in ending the problem of violence against women.
Education will play a large role in this campaign. The group seeks to inform the policymakers about the link between domestic violence and poverty, war/conflict, HIV/AIDS, and public health. The group will also be working with women’s organizations in developing nations, organizing at the grassroots level, and including the media.
Compiled from Women's Edge, "Edge Launches Campaign to End Violence Against Women Globally", available http://www.womensedge.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=280&.