SAVE: Sen. Leahy's Draft VAWA is a Stinker

Sen. Patrick Leahy is currently circulating a draft of the Violence Against Women Act: http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/VAWA-2011-Draft.pdf. Even though SAVE representatives met with Sen. Leahy's staff over the last 2 years, the draft VAWA totally, completely, 100% misses the mark. These are the reasons why the draft bill is Dead on Arrival:

• Nothing to make sure real victims get priority - see summary: http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/Fatally-Flawed.pdf
• Zero attention to false allegations.
• Nothing to rein in DV lies.
• Nada to address mandatory arrest.
• No attempt to make VAWA gender-neutral

Worse, the bill will take the Dept. of Education's directive on sexual assault on campus and turn the "preponderance of evidence" standard into statutory law.

We need to raise a big stink about this. Call your Senators today at 1-202-224-3121, and tell them to refuse to co-sponsor the bill. Sen. Leahy's bill is fatally flawed.

Sincerely,

Teri Stoddard, Program Director
Stop Abusive and Violent Environments
www.saveservices.org