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NOW Takes Action on Indigenous People’s Day

 

Released on October 10, 2022

NOW is proud to observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the second Monday of October. This is a significant occasion to facilitate important conversations around the mistreatment of Indigenous people throughout history, including up until the present. This day should honor the cultures of Indigenous people rather than the colonizer, Christopher Columbus, in a meaningful way in wider recognition of Indigenous history, contributions, and resilience.

According to the National Institute of Justice, more than 83 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native men and women have faced some form of violence in their lifetime, with more than 1.5 million women making up this statistic. Most women experiencing violence are victims of psychological aggression by an intimate partner or sexual violence – 66 percent and 56 percent, respectively. This violence is a generational trend that perpetuates cycles of grief and trauma.

There are many ways we can support Indigenous people on this day and every day, including:

Host an in-person or online event to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day in your community Support Native artists and storytellers
Share social media content pertaining to Indigenous history and culture
Advocate for legislative change

Amplify Native voices

We must also recognize the cruel history that Indigenous people have faced – genocide, displacement, oppression, and systemic exclusion. This holiday is a day for paying tribute to the diverse cultures of Indigenous people, for facing our history, and vowing to push for progress every day. We can only move forward using our knowledge of the past.

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The Alimony Bill is Unconstitutional and Will Come With a Body Count

FL NOW (National Organization for Women) Lobbyist Barbara DeVane released the following statement as the ‘Dissolution of Marriage,” CS/SB 1796, heads for the Governor’s desk.

Statement from Barbara DeVane, Florida NOW Lobbyist:

“Florida NOW has identified many serious issues with the ‘Dissolution of Marriage” bill – SB 1796. First, there is no problem with current law, which already stipulates the court may award alimony only after initially determining that one spouse needs alimony, and the other spouse is able to pay alimony.

“Secondly, this bill would be retroactive. It would allow an alimony judgment entered by a court preceding the statute to be modified or eliminated, which alone is unconstitutional.

“As The Family Section of the Florida Bar said in a recent statement regarding SB 1796:

‘This sets a dangerous precedent for contractual agreements in Florida, and we are deeply concerned that this public policy erases equitability and sets up a system that heavily favors one party, while damaging the other unnecessarily. It will also result in prolonged litigation, drive the cost of divorce up and cause backlogs in an already overburdened family court system.’

“We at Florida NOW are just as concerned as the Family Section of the Florida Bar by the dangerous precedent and economic burden this bill will set.

“SB 1796 mandates 50/50 custody of minor children. A 50/50 presumption would be adverse for children in abuse and risky cases. Using this default has led to the murders of Greyson Kessler in Broward County, and morerecently Baleria Tovar, age 12, and Matias Tovar, age 9, in Miami Lakes, by an abusive parent in each case We fear this bill will come with body count for children in Florida.

“The best interest of the child is paramount and should be considered on a case by case basis. Better education is needed in family law, not state mandates that tie judges hands and prevent informed decision making. Such a provision is unworkable for courts, bad for children, bad for families, and disastrous for anyone who is a survivor of domestic violence.

“Even in the best situations, a 50/50 child time-sharing provision is often still harmful and will come at high economic cost. It reduces the weight given to factors important in reducing the negative impact of divorce in children: stability of a physical home and schooling, continuation of friendships and child care arrangements, and the things that comfort a child. It also ignores the fact that divorced parents often relocate at a distance from another. In short, it gives unrealistic and unwelcome weight to one factor above others. Furthermore, creating a presumption of equal time-sharing would immediately cause economic hardships for thousands of Floridians and by all parties. It shifts  the burden of proof and persuasion to a parent to prove lack of involvement or unfitness of the other parent,  even in extreme cases where there has been abuse or neglect.

“These are truly dire economic issues that will have far-reaching effects for all parties involved; therefore, Governor DeSantis should smartly and seriously consider the real life impacts and the burdens  this bad bill will bring toFlorida’s families and economy. We urge theGovernor to veto SB 1796.”

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FL NOW Will Do “Whatever It Takes” To Fight For Reproductive Freedom in Florida

Florida National Organization for Women (NOW) announces a forceful statewide campaign to protect reproductive health and rights.

Leaders for the organization pledge to do “whatever it takes”
to ensure Floridians’ reproductive rights.

TALLAHASSEE- Faced with the introduction of a statewide abortion ban bill (H.B. 5) by Florida Representative Grail (R-Vero Beach), Florida NOW President Debbie Deland stated, “Several issues make this bill unconscionable.

“Any abortion ban in Florida would make reproductive health care significantly more difficult to access for thousands of Floridians,” said Deland. “Like all abortion restrictions, the burdens imposed by abortion bans fall hardest on those who already face structural barriers to health care – especially Black, Indigenous and other people of color, young people, and undocumented people.”

“An abortion ban won’t do anything to address challenges facing Floridians right now,” said Deland. “Instead, it will harm our families and threaten our health. These bans are about control. Forcing pregnancy is unconscionable.”

Florida NOW Vice President Sandi Weeks reported on mental health risks, as well as physical health risks, posed by Rep. Grall’s’s proposed abortion ban, which provides no exemptions for rape and incest. “As a rape survivor, I can speak to the psychological damage suffered by those who become pregnant as a result of rape or incest,” she stated. “When I was raped, I knew to get emergency contraception. Had I found myself pregnant I risked becoming suicidal; I could see myself jumping off a bridge to kill myself. Just think how it would affect a girl, pregnant through incest.”

Deland and Weeks pledge to be leaders in the reproductive health and rights movement. They will continue Florida NOW’s work to ensure Floridians have all the rights, freedoms, and opportunities to control our lives at the most basic level: our bodies, our families, and our life’s path – and that includes the right and ability to have an abortion.