ISSUE: Violence against women

OUR VIEW: Legislation can bring U.S. power to play against violence

Some will say Hillary Rodham Clinton's victories in Tuesday's crucial primaries in Texas and Ohio were a fitting welcome to Women's History Month. The outcomes kept alive the candidacy of the woman who is the closest in U.S. history to becoming president.

Clinton has weighed in as a fighter on many issues affecting Americans and the world. Not the least of them is violence against women -- and if her candidacy can raise the profile of the problem, that is a positive.

On this International Women's Day, the numbers are stunning. United Nations' statistics indicate a one in three chance worldwide that a woman will experience violence some time in her life. In some countries, it's much worse -- seven in 10 women will suffer.

Violence against women and girls takes many forms -- from trafficking in Eastern Europe and Asia, to honor killings in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, to rape being used as a weapon of war in Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo, to rape, stalking and domestic violence in industrialized countries such as the United States.

Esta Soler, president of the Family Violence Prevention Fund (www.endabuse.org), writes:

"No country is immune, but some are better positioned than others to help stop it. Here in the United States, we can do much more to keep women and girls safe than we're doing today."

She makes the case for legislation to combat the global violence against women and girls.

Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., introduced the International Violence Against Women Act. It would apply the force of U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid totaling $1 billion over five years to preventing abuse and exploitation against women worldwide.

The legislation would integrate efforts to end gender-based violence into all existing, appropriate U.S. foreign-assistance programs, with a special emphasis on supporting the overseas women's groups working in the trenches to keep women and girls safe.

I-VAWA would authorize substantial resources for international programs that prevent violence, provide services to survivors, hold perpetrators accountable, change public attitudes and better address violence against women in humanitarian situations. It would aim to prevent violence in all of its forms, including honor killings, bride burnings, acid burnings, dowry deaths, genital mutilation, mass rapes in war or domestic violence.

But the bill is languishing.

Soler writes: "There have been no hearings, and little movement. On International Women's Day, let's resolve to change that by calling or writing our senators and representatives and asking them to support the International Violence Against Women Act. If we pass this legislation, we will help stop a global crisis. We will help keep the next generation safe. We will give women and girls -- and their families -- worldwide a vastly better chance to lead safer, healthier lives."

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