Press Room

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today one of the nation’s leading violence prevention experts testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, releasing research which finds that the majority of U.S. voters (61 percent) say addressing global violence should be one of the top priorities for the U.S. government. One in four voters says it should be the top priority. This issue is a high priority for voters, even when compared to other issues like promoting democracy and trade, fighting corruption abroad, and reconstructing Iraq and Afghanistan, Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) President Esta Soler said.

The public opinion survey and focus groups were conducted by Lake Research Partners for the FVPF and Women Thrive Worldwide. They find that voters across demographic and party lines strongly support the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA). This groundbreaking legislation would make stopping violence against women and girls a priority in American diplomacy and foreign aid. Eight in ten voters (82 percent) express support for I-VAWA, and six in ten (62 percent) express intense support. Seventy-two percent of voters support I-VAWA, even after being told it could cost as much as $200 million per year.

“Much of the support here in Congress to address violence against women emanates from high-profile emergencies like the crises in Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Soler said at the hearing. “It’s a commendable impulse to respond to emergencies, but violence against women and girls is an emergency every day. We need a response that is sustained and durable enough to address not just today’s emergencies, but those that lie ahead. We need this Congress to move beyond the rhetoric and pass – and fund – the International Violence Against Women Act.”

In 2007, then-Senator Joseph Biden and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), introduced the bipartisan legislation. It is expected to be re-introduced in both the Senate and the House in coming weeks. It would support international programs that prevent violence, health programs and survivor services; encourage legal accountability and programs designed to change public attitudes; promote access to economic opportunity projects and education; and better address violence against women in humanitarian situations.

Also testifying before the Committee were: Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer; Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen Rapp; former military advisor to the UN Secretary General and former UN Force Commander for the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Major General Patrick Cammaert; International Crisis Group Deputy President and Former Ambassador to Angola Donald Steinberg; and International Center for Research on Women President Geeta Rao Gupta.

The United Nations Development Fund for Women estimates that one of every three women globally will be beaten, raped, or otherwise abused during her lifetime. A 2005 World Health Organization study found that of 15 sites in ten countries – representing diverse cultural settings – the proportion of ever-partnered women who had experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime ranged from 15 percent in Japan to 71 percent in Ethiopia.

Lake Research Partners conducted the research to explore voters’ attitudes about violence against women and girls globally on behalf of the FVPF and Women Thrive Worldwide. The nationwide telephone survey of 1,200 registered voters was conducted from July 14 - 21, 2009. Its margin of error is +/- 3.1%.

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The Family Violence Prevention Fund works to end violence against women and children around the world, because every person has the right to live free of violence. For more information, visit www.endabuse.org.

Click here for more information on the new public opinion research.

Clcik here to read Soler’s complete written testimony.