Message to Congress: If You Care About Violence Against Women, Stop Causing More Harm

January 13, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lynn Tramonte (lynn@anacaonallc.com / 202-255-0551)

Washington, DC – Anti-immigration legislation is moving quickly in the 119th Congress, including bills that purport to protect victims of gender-based violence. Organizations with deep expertise in combating violence against women in the United States are calling on every Member of the House and Senate to understand and oppose bills like H.R. 29/S. 5 that will cause survivors of gender-based violence more harm.

WHAT: Webinar for press and policymakers about the impact of legislation like H.R. 29/S. 5 on survivors of gender-based violence

WHEN: January 13, 2025 at 2:00 PM EST

WHO:

• Stephanie Love-Patterson, President & CEO, National Network to End Domestic Violence
• Cindene Pezzell, Director of the Defense Center for Criminalized Survivors, Battered Women’s Justice Project
• Yasmin Campos-Mendez, Public Policy Manager, Esperanza United (MN) and co-chair, Alliance for Immigrant Survivors
• Hannah Shapiro, Supervising Attorney with the DV Immigration Project, Immigration Law Unit, Legal Aid Society (NY)
• Casey Carter Swegman, Director of Public Policy, Tahirih Justice Center and co-chair, Alliance for Immigrant Survivors  (moderator)

HOW: RSVP HERE to get the webinar info

The Laken Riley Act (H.R. 29/S. 5) is under consideration in the U.S. Senate. But survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and other gender-based harms have not been properly consulted, nor have the concerns they’ve voiced been listened to. They are calling for lawmakers to stop using the problem of violence against women to enact their anti-immigrant agenda. Speakers will outline the real-world implications of this fatally flawed bill, and call on lawmakers to advance true solutions to gender-based violence in the United States.

Resources:

“Tahirih Justice Center denounces H.R. 29, and the culture of violence against women,” Tahirih Justice Center, January 2025

“Social posts target Democrats’ vote on migrant offenders bill. Here’s why they say they opposed it.” Politifact, January 2025.

“AT RISK, AGAIN: Protections for Immigrant Survivors of Gender-Based Violence Should be Expanded, Not Ended,” Tahirih Justice Center, December 2024

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The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) represents the 56 state and U.S. territorial coalitions against domestic violence. NNEDV is a social change organization working to create a social, political, and economic environment in which domestic violence no longer exists. NNEDV works to make domestic violence a national priority, change the way society responds to domestic violence, and strengthen domestic violence advocacy at every level.