Florida NOW

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

The Motion Picture Academy did the right thing by revoking Harvey Weinstein’s membership. The National Organization for Women was one of the first to call for the Academy to remove Harvey Weinstein from their membership roster, and we are gratified they faced their responsibility today. But Hollywood still has a pervasive problem with the systematic abuse of women by powerful men who believe their power and privilege will always protect them.

Every studio, every talent agency, every entertainment lawyer and every business that participates in the “star-making machinery” has an obligation to women—and to humanity—to end the silence that surrounds sexual abuse. It shouldn’t take a Harvey Weinstein to change the way Hollywood deals with abusers. This sort of harassment and criminal assault takes place every day. When people in Hollywood see something, they should say something. It shouldn’t take a newspaper or magazine expose to hold people like Harvey Weinstein accountable.

The Motion Picture Academy made a good start today. But the hard work of changing the culture and holding abusers accountable for their crimes is just beginning.

Contact
M.E. Ficarra, press@now.org, 951-547-1241

“You Will Not Silence Us,” says NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is making support for the monthly vigil at the NRA Headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia on Saturday, October 14 part of NOW’s board meeting, which is taking place this weekend in Virginia.

The vigil is held on the 14th of every month in remembrance of the Sandy Hook massacre that occurred in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14, 2012 that took the lives of 26 innocents, mostly children.

“This month’s vigil is particularly heartbreaking,” says NOW President Toni Van Pelt. “In the wake of the Las Vegas attack that is the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, we have a solemn obligation to speak our truth to the terrible power that is the modern NRA.

“The NRA wants to keep our truth out of sight, out of mind, and out of earshot, but our message to the NRA is simple: despite the millions of dollars that you spend to silence members of Congress, you will not silence us. We will not stand for women being killed by abusers, families and workers being gunned down with assault weapons, school children massacred and happy crowds being slaughtered without remorse or accountability by the gun industry and the Congress who refuses to regulate gun ownership.

“We know that people with a history of committing domestic violence are five times more likely to subsequently murder an intimate partner when a firearm is in the house. And over the past 25 years, more intimate partner homicides in the U.S. have been committed with guns than with all other weapons combined.”

More than half of women murdered with guns in the U.S. in 2011 — at least 53 percent — were killed by intimate partners or family members. And research by Everytown for Gun Safety establishes that this is also true for mass shootings: in 57 percent of the mass shootings between January 2009 and June 2014, the perpetrator killed an intimate partner or family member.

NOW supports the Democratic candidates who are running for statewide office in Virginia and appearing at Saturday’s vigil, Lt. Gov Ralph Northam, candidate for Governor, Justin Fairfax, candidate for Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General Mark Herring, who is running for re-election. In addition, NOW calls on Congress to close the loopholes in the federal gun prohibitions to ensure that stalkers and dating partners are barred from gun ownerships just like other dangerous abusers. Congress must also require comprehensive background checks and ensure that prohibited domestic abusers cannot easily evade background checks by purchasing guns from unlicensed sellers.

“Domestic violence is inextricably linked to gun violence,” says Toni Van Pelt. “It’s long past time to stop playing politics with women’s lives. We will shame the NRA, confront the NRA and defy the NRA at every turn.”

Contact
M.E. Ficarra, press@now.org, 951-547-1241

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

That old glass ceiling continues to break, but the cracks don’t run deep enough.

NOW welcomes the news that the Boy Scouts of America have once again admitted to their long history of discrimination, this time against girls, and are taking steps to correct it.

For more than a century, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts have been an integral part of our society. But girls have been left to wonder, why were they left on the sidelines when boys got to earn badges, participate in scouting activities and be Eagle Scouts?

But there’s an even bigger question that remains unanswered. Why are Girl Scouts not afforded the same level of financial support on the federal, state and local levels and recognition for their fine work in supporting and providing opportunity? The fact the Eagle Scouts award is considered by some as more prestigious that the Girl Scout Gold Award speaks to this financial discrimination.

Are the Boy Scouts of America truly going co-ed, or are they setting up a parallel scouting experience that defined as​​ “separate but equal?” ​even as​ we know the practice usually plays out as separate and unequal in quality and opportunity.​

If this decision means that the Boy Scouts will be offering segregated activities and providing girls with fewer opportunities, or activities of lesser quality, there’s much more trailblazing needed from the Boy Scouts of America. We’d rather see​ a cultural shift of​ more respect and ​funding for the Girl Scouts as is their due.​

Contact
M.E. Ficarra, press@now.org, 951-547-1241