Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to join with my colleagues, Senators Boxer, Kirk, Menendez, and Shaheen, in introducing the International Violence Against Women Act of 2014. This bill makes ending violence against women and girls a top diplomatic priority. It would permanently authorize the State Department's Office of Global Women's Issues and the position of the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. It requires the administration to develop and implement an annual strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls for each of the next 5 years. This legislation will ensure that the efforts begun under President George W. Bush and continued by President Barack Obama to combat gender-based violence will be a priority for future administrations as well. We have witnessed great strides in women's equality in our own country and in much of the developed world over the past century. Across vast swaths of the globe, however, violence against women and forced marriages are everyday occurrences. One out of three women worldwide will be physically, sexually or otherwise abused during her lifetime, with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries. This violence ranges from domestic violence to rape and acid burnings, to dowry deaths and so-called honor killings. Such violence is often exacerbated in humanitarian emergencies and conflict settings.…”