“Military sexual assault is an outrage,” exclaimed Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority. “There is no excuse. We must take military sexual assault cases out of the chain of command so those responsible are held accountable for their egregious actions. No more coddling, no more protection, no more promoting of predators.”

The report found on average that less than one out of every ten cases of sexual assault in the military resulted in a sexual assault conviction at court-martial. Shockingly, the majority of cases resulted in minor administrative action or were dismissed completely. “The case of Lieutenant Colonel Jeffery Krusinski is the final straw. The military must get  serious on sexual assault – nothing less than its reputation is at stake,” Smeal continued.

“Victims of sexual assault are most often afraid to report their attack, while predators have nothing to fear. Studies have shown that these assaults are being committedd by a small percentage of military personal on both women and men. The current system is broken and only empower serial rapists. Victims who report often end their military careers while their attackers are promoted. We must change the way the military handles sexual assault. That is why we need measures like the STOP Act introduced by Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA). Until significant and meaningful action is taken by Congress, the Administration, and the Department of Defense, sexual assault in the military will not stop.”

“The House Republican leadership managed to delay reauthorization of VAWA for nearly two years, but in the end after the gender gap victories of 2012 were not able to hold their own troops,” said Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority. “Women’s groups and their allies acted as one and created a massive grassroots lobbying campaign to pass a strong VAWA despite the Republican House leadership opposition. We cannot forget that 138 Republicans and no Democrats voted against final passage of the real VAWA. Nor can we forget those that voted to roll back full protections of VAWA for college students, immigrants, the LGBT community, and Native Americans as well as to weaken of the Office of Violence.”

“Even with the election victories for women’s rights in 2012, outrageously the Republican House leadership was prepared to weaken the Violence against Women Act and even with these victories nearly succeeded in making it a partisan issue,” continued Smeal. “The House GOP leadership’s attempt to gut and politicize VAWA failed and all survivors of violence won.”

While intimate partner violence doesn’t care about your sexuality or gender, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives does. In a butchered substitute of the Senate-backed Violence Against Women Act, GOP leaders have removed provisions that could help extend resources to LGBTQ individuals. In fact, the subject of intimate partner violence among LGBTQ couples has been erased from their substitute bill.

An optimist might call it wishful thinking – that if we don’t talk about LGBTQ problems, maybe they’ll just go away. But to me, not being left out, but intentionally removed from one of the most influential pieces of legislation fighting violence sends a far different message. In stripping protections for people like me the Republican leadership has told me that I am not really a person. I’m not “a concern.” It shows me that the elected officials who are in Washington to argue on my behalf do not care about my safety, or even my life.

Very soon, the House of Representatives will vote on the House substitute to the Violence Against Women Act. Only if the substitute FAILS will the bipartisan bill as passed by the Senate be brought to the floor. The inclusive Senate bill not only includes protections for fellow members of the LGBTQ community, but also includes provisions for students, Native Americans, and immigrants. It is imperative that the House pass the inclusive, bipartisan Senate bill and not a gutted alternative. I urge the members of the House – as a voter, as an activist, as a woman, as a human being – to do the right thing and pass a VAWA that can protect all victims of violence. No one should be left to suffer when there is a way to help.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride flag flying outside a government building from Shutterstock

Shockingly, the House Republican Leadership has refused to include groundbreaking provisions in the Senate bill that address sexual and intimate partner violence on our college campuses in their substitute. With an estimated 20% to 25% of college women experiencing rape or attempted rape during their college years according to a National Institute of Justice Survey[1], it is unfathomable why the Senate provisions to fight campus violence have been removed from the House substitute. The bipartisan Senate VAWA wisely provided for the collection and reporting of instances of dating violence, sexual assault and stalking; dissemination of information on how to report incidents; and education, prevention and response programs.

In addition, critical protections for LGBT and Native American victims were intentionally omitted from the House substitute. It is unconscionable that these provisions in the bipartisan Senate bill were cut by the House Leadership. Violence is Violence no matter who the victim. Congress must not decide to withhold protections from some!

The House must vote no on the weakened House substitute and pass the inclusive, bipartisan Senate VAWA, stand for all survivors of violence, and continue the life-saving work to reduce violence against women.

Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority, remarked, “Although the Tea Party, Heritage Action, and FreedomWorks tried to politicize VAWA, the Senate led the way for common sense to prevail. VAWA works. Its prevention provisions work to reduce incidents of domestic violence, date violence, sexual assault and stalking crimes and its protective provisions help the victims of these crimes. Now the House must act immediately and pass the inclusive Senate reauthorization with a bipartisan vote. It currently has 194 cosponsors in the House. The political games that have caused well over a year’s delay in passing this VAWA Reauthorization must stop. VAWA has been and must remain a bipartisan effort. Violence against women cannot, must not be politicized, trivialized, or tolerated.”

Although Heritage Action, the 501(c)(4) affiliated with the Heritage Foundation, and Freedom Works announced they were scoring the VAWA vote, giving any Senator who voted for VAWA negative marks, three-fourths of the Senate defied the threat and voted yes. Though some opponents argue VAWA is vague, the act is very specific. VAWA deals with felony and misdemeanor crimes of violence including domestic violence, sexual assault, date violence, stalking, and sex trafficking. It even has clauses to protect against family violence such as child and elder abuse.

In 1980, when I was the President of the National Organization for Women, I released the following statement: “Discrimination against women…produces in the armed services exactly what it produces in the society as a whole-wasted skills, talents and potential…” At that time, we also addressed the false position that women do not serve in combat roles, saying “The first myth to be dispelled is that women have not been in combat…Women have served and will continue to serve in combat environments under the same conditions, suffering the same risks and injuries as men.” Finally, our nation is recognizing this basic fact and correcting this outrageous injustice that has denied women just benefits and recognition for far too long.

In the fight for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment it was frequently argued by opponents that women cannot have equal rights without sharing equal responsibility. We have had more than our share of responsibility. Now, because of the courageous service of women in the armed services, women in the military are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

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 Attending receptions and even just walking down the halls of the Capitol and the office buildings seeing so many women Senators and House Members was electrifying.   There is nothing to compare with saying “Congratulations Senator Baldwin…Senator Heitkamp…Senator Hirono… Senator Warren…”  And to see Congresswomen Carol Shea Porter and Dina Titus return after losing their seats in the 2010 madness was a bonus.

If all of this wasn’t enough, special friends Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were there to celebrate the newly elected women and had special words for our own Ellie Smeal.

Hope you enjoy our pictures of this historic day and here’s to moving the bar even further with more women in 2014.

Norma Gattsek is the Director of Government Relations at the Feminist Majority.

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