Something I feel very strongly about...

  I urge everyone to watch this video. Man or woman. It's a very powerful video.
  At the end of the year we are not only facing a financial cliff but a moral one as well. If Congress fails to extend the VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) by the end of the year there will be no legal extended laws on the books to protect women in domestic violence situations. A lot of focus is on the financial side of what may be expiring but this is a serious law as well.
  As it stands the VAWA is a broad spectrum law. Congress is being urged to extend it's date as well as update it from it's basic 2005 writing and interpretations.
  Right this minute a woman is sitting on her couch on a reservation in the United States. That woman is as much a US citizen as you or I. But..she has no legal protection when it comes to domestic violence or rape. As an American Indian woman she can only prosecute a man if he is enrolled in her tribe or tribally  enrolled somewhere. A white man can rape and beat a Native woman(as her boyfriend or as a husband!)  and the US government has for years declined to have any jurisdiction. If the man is Native then tribal courts can prosecute him..if he is white then there is no status for prosecution as the tribe has no control over non members.
  The act is also important in that it provides coverage for same sex relationships. Whether a person agrees with a couple being of the same sex has no bearing on whether violence should be allowed or not. NO woman deserves to be hit or verbally abused.
  This law also covers all women living in the US to give them extended coverage and resources to get out of the situation. Once expired the law is off the books till voted on in another session. This simple law has helped crack down on abusers by allowing more evidence collection and for creating stiffer penalties for abusers.
  I myself have never been a victim of abuse and never saw it growing up. But I have many friends that have been on the receiving end of a beating or a verbal beating. I've seen them struggle with their own self esteem, with cops who told them "the bruises aren't dark enough I wouldn't file if I was you" while being made sit out in the front office of the police station with everyone watching. I've seen them say "Well he cried and said he was sorry. I can't lose my stuff just to leave him".  I've seen them have a miscarriage because the beating went too far. And I've seen men that saw that kind of violence as children and the affect it's had on them..many turning into completely opposite men while others not so much. Domestic violence doesn't just affect the woman..it trickles down to her children.
  But legislation alone (and only geared towards women...men are just as likely to be abused as women..it's just less likely a man will report it) cannot fix the problem. It takes raising our daughters to know their own strength, to know that they deserve to be treated with love,kindness and respect and not as a sex object. It takes raising our sons to be men, not merely grown boys. Teaching them to respect a woman, to remind them that every woman is someone's daughter. But it also takes teaching both boys and girls that a real relationship takes respect from both partners. When that time comes there will be no need for legislation. Rape will be an unheard of word. It won't be used in war or to control a woman or a situation. Domestic violence won't be that little pile of dirt that gets swept under the rug, hid under makeup and pretended to not be heard by neighbors.