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Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14), Gun Violence Survivor and Co-Chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, along with Congresswomen Debbie Dingell (MI-12) and Gwen Moore (WI-4) led 37 of their colleagues in introducing a resolution recognizing the intersection between misogyny, violence against women, and gun violence. The Members introduced the resolution in advance of tomorrow’s 25^th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), landmark legislation to protect against our nation’s epidemic of domestic violence, stalking, dating violence, and sexual assault. 

“Over half of the mass shootings in the United States are connected to intimate partner or family-based violence. The majority of those who kill an intimate partner have a history of domestic violence. Women here are 21 times more likely to be killed by a gun than women in other high-income countries. Yet our national discourse largely ignores the indisputable relationship between misogyny, violence against women, and gun violence,” Rep. Speier said. “On the 25^th Anniversary of VAWA, Congress must acknowledge this inextricable link and work to better understand it in order to protect American families. We must also reauthorize VAWA and pass common-sense background checks. Women and families demand nothing less.”

“People with a history of domestic violence shouldn’t have access to guns – period,” Rep. Dingell said. “The evidence is clear and convincing. The Senate must take action on the House-passed updates to VAWA – including my provisions to close loopholes that allow stalkers and abusive boyfriends to access guns.”

“I know firsthand what happens when a domestic abuser gets their hand on a gun,” Rep. Moore said. “It makes a dangerous situation even more terrifying. This resolution helps elevate the voices of the millions of women who experience violence in their lives and reiterates the urgency of action, including the passage for commonsense House-passed legislation such as H.R. 8 and H.R. 1585 that would help protect innocent lives and keep guns out of the hands of domestic violence abusers.”

As the recent shooting in Dayton, Ohio demonstrated, many mass shooters exhibit violent or misogynistic tendencies toward women long before they use a gun to lay waste to human life. The resolution highlights the connection among misogyny, violence against women, and gun violence, affirms the need to prevent individuals with a history of violence against women from accessing a firearm, and asserts that policy interventions must address the connection between violence against women and gun violence. It also calls on the U.S. Senate to immediately consider H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2018, H.R. 1112, the Background Checks Enhancement Act of 2019, and H.R. 1585, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019.

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