One of the most important jobs we do at the AHA Foundation is our legislative effort to expand and strengthen United States federal and state legislation on issues such as female genital mutilation and domestic violence. You can help us in this effort by lending your voice to our campaign. Please let your congressman know you stand with the AHA Foundation in saying that every woman and child deserves access to education and basic human rights by contacting them about our outreach efforts listed below.
NY: Female Genital Mutilation Reporting Bill
In New York, it is a crime to perform female genital mutilation on a girl or consent to having this procedure performed on one’s child. New York State law also requires the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to study the risks and dangers associated with FGM and to implement appropriate education and preventative outreach programs in communities that traditionally practice FGM. However, since the implementation of this law in 1997, OCFS has done little to comply with this requirement.
A bill pending in the New York State Assembly – A.2478 – seeks to compel OCFS to comply with the requirement that it study FGM in New York State by requiring the agency to submit an annual report to the Governor and Legislature detailing the results of their study and the community outreach activities engaged in during the previous year. Imposing this new reporting requirement on OCFS would help ensure that the agency is, in fact, devoting time and resources to investigating instances of FGM in the state and reaching out to the community in an attempt to prevent girls from being victimized. Such a report would also provide valuable information about how frequently FGM is performed in New York, shedding much-needed light on a practice shrouded in secrecy.
Contact your New York State representatives and urge them to vote in favor of A.2478. You can find your representatives here http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/ and here http://www.nysenate.gov/. Download Sample Letter to Your Representatives Text for NY FGM Reporting Bill (Word)
The Violence Against Women Act
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is a groundbreaking piece of legislation that strengthened the criminal justice system’s response to violence against women and allocated funding for victims’ services. VAWA was first enacted in 1994 and was reauthorized in 2000 and 2005. This legislation is currently due to be reauthorized again in 2011.
The AHA Foundation urges Congress to use the opportunity of the reauthorization to amend VAWA to include honor violence. When it was originally enacted in 1994, VAWA created a new federal crime to penalize perpetrators of domestic violence. However, this crime only covers violence against spouses, intimate partners, and dating partners. We propose that this law be amended to include violence against any family member. Doing so will make this crime applicable to cases of honor violence, such as the recent murder of Jessica Mokdad by her stepfather, Rahim Alfetlawi.
The purpose of VAWA is to protect women in the United States from all forms of violence and to impose strong punishment on those who perpetrate this violence. Contact your representatives using our Legislative Outreach tool below and urge them to amend the Violence Against Women Act to protect victims of honor violence. Download Sample Letter to Your Representatives Text for Violence Against Women Act (Word)
The Girls Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 2221)
Under current law, only individuals who perform female genital mutilation in this country are subject to a criminal penalty. The Girls Protection Act (H.R. 2221) amends this law to penalize a person who forces a girl to go to another country for this procedure. Making this change will ensure that all of those who force a girl to suffer through this horrific procedure – either in the U.S. or by taking the girl abroad – will be brought to justice.
Contact your representatives using our Legislative Outreach tool below and urge them to vote in favor of The Girls Protection Act. Download Sample Letter to Your Representatives Text for Girls Protection Act (Word)
International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2011 (S.414)
The International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2011 (S.414) bill focuses on empowering girls and women in developing countries with a high incidence of child marriage in areas such as education, health, economics, and social opportunities. This bill is a major step forward in protecting girls worldwide from the harm caused by forced child marriages. As noted in the bill’s findings, forcing children to marry at a young age results in numerous harmful consequences, including increased risk of death during childbirth, infant mortality, and sexually transmitted diseases. Eliminating this harmful practice in the countries in which it is traditionally practiced will serve to protect girls around the world from being forced into marriage, including girls from these cultures living in the U.S. who are sent back to their home countries to be married.
Contact your Senators using our Legislative Outreach tool below and urge them to vote in favor of the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act. Download Sample Letter to Your Senators Text for Preventing Child Marriage Act (Word)
Criminalize Female Genital Mutilation in Every State
Only these 19 states have laws against FGM
Currently, only 19 states and the federal government have passed laws prohibiting female genital mutilation. Yet studies suggest that approximately 228,000 girls and women in the U.S. have either suffered FGM or are at risk. FGM has significant and lasting medical consequences for victims. Immediately following the procedure, girls are at risk for severe pain, shock, bleeding, bacterial infection, and injury to nearby tissue. In the long term, girls and women who have suffered this procedure are at risk for recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections, cysts, infertility, and complications during intercourse and childbirth.
Enacting new laws criminalizing FGM in every state would have a significant deterrent effect and would send a strong message that this conduct is not acceptable anywhere in the U.S.
The AHA Foundation achieved its first success in this campaign in February 2012 when New Jersey Senator Loretta Weinberg introduced our model FGM legislation.
Contact your state representatives and encourage them to introduce bills banning FGM in your state. Our model FGM legislation can be found here: AHA Foundation Model FGM Bill. Download Sample Letter to Your Representatives Text for Prohibiting Female Genital Mutilation (Word)
Contacting Your Legislators
Use our Legislative Outreach tool to find your legislators and send them a letter in support of the Acts above.
