Together We Can Stop the Violence

TOGETHER WE CAN STOP THE VIOLENCE

Do You Have a Painful Chapter in Your Own Life?
We're Making Progress Against Violence
You Can Make a Difference

I am pleading with my sisters to stand up and no longer be silent, to hold accountable the law makers, the law enforcers, the judges and lawyers who further victimize women by their misdirected deeds."
--Charlotte Fedders, author of Shattered Dreams, was battered by her ex-husband, formerly a top Securities and Exchange Commission official.

DO YOU HAVE A PAINFUL CHAPTER IN YOUR OWN LIFE STORY?

You're tired of the daily dose of verbal abuse you encounter -- the lewd comments on the street, sexual harassment on the job, even an obscene phone call.
Your eight-year-old daughter says the boys at school have been taunting her in class and pulling down her underwear on the playground. The principal laughs and calls it normal childhood horseplay.
Your boyfriend is so jealous that he doesn't even want you to hang around with your women friends anymore. You often have the creepy feeling he is following you. You don't realize these are warning signs of pending violence.

You're attending a fraternity party with a big man on campus when he and a group of his friends push you off into another room, where they force you to perform sexual acts. The campus police treat you like you are a moron who asked for what she got.
You are shocked beyond belief when your partner's tongue lashings escalate into slapping you in the face and slugging you in the stomach-- while you are six months pregnant.
Days after you file for divorce, your estranged husband rapes you. You want custody and need alimony, but can't afford a lawyer to match his. You are reluctant to press charges.

(These specific examples may not apply to you, but chances are your life or the life of someone you know has been affected by violence.)

"A large number of the rape crisis centers and battered women's shelters were begun by NOW activists. Now when these organizations need help picketing or lobbying, they turn to NOW because we have the ability to agitate successfully for change."
--Lois Galgay Reckitt, NOW leader and shelter director.

WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS AGAINST VIOLENCE

The day-in, day-out activism of NOW's quarter of a million members and hundreds of chapters makes a difference:

We help people name the violence in their lives by putting new words in their vocabularies--domestic violence, date rape, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse.
After years of urging members of Congress to pass the new Violence Against Women Act, now we are pressing them to come through with the full $1.6 billion in funding they promised through the year 2000.
NOW organizes record crowds to protest all forms of attacks against women--actual physical assaults, political attacks on poor women and anti-abortion terrorism.

We sponsor annual Take Back the Night marches in cities and towns nationwide.
We advocate for important new state laws -- punishing marital rape just like stranger rape, outlawing stalking, making it easier to get restraining orders and providing the funds for hotlines and shelters.
We need your help.

"I was abused as a child and gang raped by strangers. It's only by my contact with you in NOW that I have decided to go a step further in my healing and help others."
--Nancy Hammons, student activist at the NOW Young Feminist Summit Against Violence.

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

...in helping change more minds, more laws.

We have made violence against women a crime, now let's make it a shame. Let's make it as socially unacceptable as it is illegal.
We need a massive public education campaign to destroy the dangerous myths that perpetuate violence--women who dress provocatively are asking to be raped, they enjoy it; women could leave men who are beating them, but they like the excitement; women make false accusations of rape and child abuse to gain the advantage in divorce and custody cases.
We still need to press for stiffer laws. We should be encouraging arrests for domestic violence, upgrading this offense from a misdemeanor to a felony, requiring better reporting and giving it more weight in custody disputes.

We need more feminist women as police, prosecutors and judges. And we need more activists to conduct court watches of the many unenlightened judges out there.
In short, we need you. By simply joining NOW or buying a message t-shirt from our catalog, you help give us the clout and money we need to champion these issues. You may want to contact your local NOW chapter--to find out about their action plans to end violence and harrassment.
Join us however and wherever you feel comfortable. Do it for yourself--and for girls and women everywhere. DO IT NOW.

"I am in my 50th year. I have hit people who are smaller and weaker than I. I have been hit by people bigger and stronger than I. Both experiences produced not only fear and pain; both experiences produced shame. It is shameful that it took me so long to get violence out of my life. It is shameful that we as a society tolerate and institutionalize violence against our citizens."
--Tyne Daly, stage, film and TV star.

"Take your anger and use it as fuel, use it as something positive to help fight against domestic violence. Help fight with our legislators, help them understand the bitter injustice against women today--this awful, cruel thing called domestic violence."
--Evelyn Smith, national newsmaker, was acquitted of murdering her abusive husband because she was suffering from battered women's syndrome.

"I am a survivor of rape, and I will not be silent. I tell my story every day because deans at colleges around this country have told me that date rape is 'an unfortunate miscommunication.' " --Katie Koestner, campus activist.

These three women and others featured here were speakers or participants during a NOW rally to stop violence against women. It drew 200,000 people and was featured on CNN and C-SPAN.