National Organization for Women

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America’s Game is America’s Shame

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The day after Antonio Brown became a player for the New England Patriots, a federal lawsuit was filed accusing him of rape and sexual assault. And the day after that, the Patriots, whose owner Robert Kraft was charged with two counts of solicitation of prostitution at a Florida day spa, responded by putting Brown on the training field.   

The NFL’s message is clear–there’s too much money resting on Brown’s career to keep him from playing, or to seriously address the league’s systemic culture of violence against women.  

We’ve seen this before when former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice assaulted his then-fiancée in a hotel elevator.  At the time, NOW said that the NFL didn’t have a Ray Rice problem, it had a violence against women problem.  

It still does.   

NOW renews our demand for an independent investigation on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking within the NFL community, and for enaction of real and lasting reforms.  Today, the league’s enforcement of punishment for abuse or domestic violence is secretive, haphazard, inconsistent and inadequate.  

Why does the NFL refuse to change its shameful culture? And why is Antonio Brown still on the field? Society must stop the patriarchy’s protection of men who lash out over their imagined grievances and pain, imposing physical and mental harm on women. 

America’s game is America’s shame. The NFL’s “boys will be boys” culture of violence against women must stop, now. 

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745

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NOW Applauds the House Passage of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization, Urges Action in the Senate

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives took vital action today to help victims of sexual assault, domestic and dating violence and stalking by voting to reauthorize the 2019 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA / H.R. 1585). NOW leaders in the states are working with their Senators to ensure that a companion bill is passed by the Senate as soon as possible. This is a critical next step in order to establish important improvements and secure stable funding for VAWA for the next five years.

The proposed reauthorization includes a provision to close a loophole in the original Act that allows convicted domestic abusers of dating partners to have access to firearms. Opposition to this from the National Rifle Association (NRA) is motivating certain members of Congress to OPPOSE or stall the bill. The NRA wants Congress to put the second amendment rights of abusers over the lives of the women and families who might die at their hands.

VAWA 2019 contains many important improvements that will benefit victims of violence around the country including:

  • Housing protections for survivors of sexual assault.
  • A new position at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to address domestic violence.
  • Enhancements to the criminal justice response to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.
  • Programs that help survivors gain and maintain economic independence.

VAWA 2019 now moves to the Senate. NOW expects bipartisan support and a vote for passage and nothing less. Constituents in every state will be watching to see which senators are willing to prioritize the health and safety of millions of women, men and their families over the influence of the NRA.

Contact

NOW Press, press@now.org, 202-570-4745

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Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta Must Resign For Allowing Serial Child Molester Jeffrey Epstein To Escape Justice

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON — Jeffrey Epstein is a serial child molester who used his wealth, power and influence to escape serious penalties for his crimes. The charges brought against him could have resulted in Epstein spending the rest of his life in prison —but instead, he played “let’s make a deal” to subvert justice and escape punishment.  Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, who as U.S. Attorney in Miami cut the deal with Epstein, must resign.

Jeffrey Epstein plays by the same rulebook as Donald Trump, Les Moonves, Harvey Weinstein, Eric Schneiderman and other powerful men who have been revealed as serial abusers of women. Epstein’s scant 13-month stay in a county jail—where he was even allowed to spend twelve hours a day, six days a week, at his office—was made possible by a culture of powerful men enabling each other, while dismissing, excusing or demeaning the women and children they brutalize with physical and sexual violence.  

But this toxic culture must end. We cannot allow our legal system to be hijacked by rich men and those who stand by idly while profiting from their abuses of power. Those in law enforcement, politics, and business who defend and protect these abusers are also complicit. They used their privilege to shred the law and make a mockery of justice.  But the #MeToo movement is shining a light on their conduct, and that light must not fade.

Alexander Acosta, like Donald Trump, sees legal protections against sexual assault not as indestructible safeguards, but as flexible and even optional suggestions. Every day he remains in office makes a mockery of our system of justice that should protect underage girls from monsters like Jeffrey Epstein.

#EnoughIsEnough.  Alexander Acosta must go.

Contact

NOW Press , press@now.org , 202-628-8669