About Julia Drost

Julia Drost is the Policy & Advocacy Associate for the Women’s Human Rights Program at Amnesty International USA
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International Violence Against Women Act Reintroduced and Time is Ticking!

Violence devastates the lives of millions of women and girls worldwide every year (Photo Credit: Mahmud Khaled/AFP/Getty Images)

Violence devastates the lives of millions of women and girls worldwide every year (Photo Credit: Mahmud Khaled/AFP/Getty Images)

There’s little doubt that you’ve repeatedly heard about the incessant global epidemic of violence against women and girls; I am certain you’ve seen one too many horrific headlines highlighting unthinkable instances of gender-based violence around the world.

Like me, you’re also undoubtedly distressed by the violence and simultaneously weary of the struggle to end it. It is overwhelming and daunting to grasp how we can work to effectively end this widespread human rights abuse.

But we cannot give up on our efforts. With every day that passes, violence continues to devastate the lives of countless more women and girls in every part of the world. We must continue to push for a solution. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

Let’s put the 16 Days campaign out of business

(FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)

(FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)

We all know how unfortunately easy it is to find innumerable instances of violence against women occurring on a daily basis in every part of the world. A three-year old rape survivor in Afghanistan, hundreds of abducted schoolgirls in Nigeria, the unsolved murder of 15 year-old María Isabel Veliz Franco in Guatemala, and astonishing rates of sexual violence in Egypt, to name a few.

Violence is horrific wherever it occurs and in whatever context. It is particularly abhorrent in the devastating impact it has on the lives of 1 in 3 women around the world.   SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

Congress, You’ve Been Given Homework: Pass I-VAWA!

(Photo Credit: Futures Without Violence).

(Photo Credit: Futures Without Violence).

Yesterday, an overflowing Congressional hearing room sat (and stood) captivated as witnesses described the ongoing struggle to end gender-based violence (GBV) globally to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

While it was exciting to be in a packed hearing room on Capitol Hill with many youth activists, all wearing bright Amnesty “Stop Violence Against Women” stickers, I will be the first to admit that the topic of the hearing wasn’t exactly uplifting. The global epidemic of violence against women is disturbing, astounding, and infuriating. Would there be any good news to report? Any glimmers of hope or progress that has been made?

SEE THE REST OF THIS POST