Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley cosponsored an amendment to the Violence Against Women Act that would explicitly include transgender and gender diverse people to the protections afforded by the Act. The amendment passed in the US House of Representatives last week.
The updated Act would also establish a “first-ever grant program to support LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking,” with an emphasis on transgender BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) women, notes a press release from the Boston-based Fenway Health.
“Fenway Health applauds the leadership shown by Congresswomen Pressley and Newman in championing this bill,” says Fenway CEO Ellen LaPointe.
“Gender-based violence, domestic and intimate partner violence in the LGBTQIA+ community, and maltreatment of transgender women, especially BIPOC women, by law enforcement and/or emergency shelter programs are significant problems that require racially equitable and innovative prevention programming from community-based organizations,” LaPoint says.
Reports Fenway:
VAWA was first enacted in 1994. When it was reauthorized in 2013, new language was added to the law to explicitly include people with same-sex partners. The bill passed by the House this week explicitly includes, for the first time, transgender and gender diverse people.
“There were more reported murders of transgender people in 2020 than in any previous year,” said Lauren Kourabas, Program Director of Fenway Health’s Violence Recovery Program. “Most of those victims were BIPOC women. Sadly, another 11 transgender women have already lost their lives to violence in 2021. This is an urgent crisis requiring immediate and on-going intervention.”
Fenway Health’s Violence Recovery Program provides free counseling, support groups, advocacy, and referral services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and anti-LGBTQIA+ hate violence. Services are offered in both English and Spanish at four locations: Fenway Health, 1340 Boylston Street, Boston; AIDS Action, 75 Amory St, Roxbury; the Borum at 75 Kneeland St, Boston; and at regional offices in Western Massachusetts, Fall River, and Cape Cod. To access these services, call 617.927.6250 or 800.834.3242 (toll-free in MA).
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