SAVE; National Crime Victims' Rights Week: SAVE Calls for End to Discriminatory Practices

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

WASHINGTON / April 22, 2013 – In recognition of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) is calling on lawmakers, state Attorney Generals, and prosecutors to move quickly to implement the VAWA Inclusion Mandate.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is being observed April 21-27. The Week’s theme is “New Challenges, New Solutions.”

Discriminatory practices have been documented against male (1), LGBT (2), and immigrant (3) victims of abuse. So the critical “new challenge” is to review and upgrade organizational policies, staffing patterns, and outreach efforts to end illegal exclusionary practices, the victim-rights coalition says.

The VAWA Inclusion Mandate requires recipients of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) funding to refrain from discriminatory practices on the basis of “race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.” The Inclusion Mandate also includes provisions specific to LGBT, male, and immigrant victims (4).