Please Vote Yes on SB 441
Please Vote Yes on SB 441
Maria ’s boss at her worksite pressured her repeatedly to have sex with him. She always said no, but his persistence was frightening. Maria told her boss’s supervisor, but he did nothing to help. In fact, things got worse, as the harassment turned into stalking and then one day, her boss masturbated in front of her. Maria ran away, but never told the police because she was afraid they would ask about her immigration status. The boss is still working at the same company, still supervising other young women.
Olivia was sexually molested by a group of her co-workers. Because she did not have legal immigration status, she never called the police. Her attackers are still on the job.
Alisa, a seven year-old girl, was terrified as she witnessed her abusive father try to kill her mother—three times. Each time, afraid she would be deported and separated from her child (a fear fueled by the father’s own threats), Alisa’s mother refused to report the attempted murders to the police and warned her daughter to stay silent.
[Names given are pseudonyms]
Dear Friend,
Every week, Tahirih receives calls for help from women like those above who have been brutally beaten or raped (or both) and who are too afraid to call the police. All too often these victims’ fears are cruelly fueled by the perpetrators themselves, who threaten that if the victim speaks up, it is she, not the perpetrator, who will be jailed and punished. The women we hear from who do eventually call the police, often only call after they have literally been brought to the breaking point by repeated assaults. In our experience, a woman’s fear that her immigration status will be called into question by police, and that she could wind up deported rather than delivered from violence, is a powerful deterrent to crime-reporting and help-seeking.That’s why the Tahirih Justice Center has been working so hard this session of the Virginia General Assembly to pass Senate Bill 441, which reassures immigrant victims and witnesses of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other crimes that if they come forward to report those crimes and cooperate with law enforcement they will not be asked about their immigration status. Tahirih helped draft the bill with input from law enforcement and in close collaboration with the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance (the statewide umbrella coalition representing Virginia’s 38 Sexual Assault Crisis Centers and 47 Domestic Violence Programs).
Tahirih feels strongly that SB 441 is a public safety imperative that would make a powerful—even life-saving—difference for the women and girls we serve. Our law enforcement allies likewise feel SB 441 would provide a tremendous boost to their ability to get violent predators off the street and out of our communities.
But we need your help—today—to get SB 441 passed. SB 441 passed easily out of the VA Senate but is having some close calls in the House. The bill is moving swiftly to the full House floor for a vote this Tuesday, March 4th. To ensure its passage, we will need every possible vote we can get.
Please take a moment today to call your Delegate and urge him/her to VOTE YES on SB 441! It’s very easy to weigh in—oftentimes all you have to say is “I’m a constituent, and I’m calling to urge the Delegate to support SB 441″ and the staff assistant will tally your call in the “pro” column on his/her notepad, thank you, and that’s it. And please forward this message!
To find out what Delegate represents you, please visit the General Assembly. Sample talking points are below.
We have a real chance here—together—to make a critical difference in the lives of immigrant survivors of violent crimes, and to improve public safety for all Virginia’s residents. Thank you very much for your help!
SAMPLE PHONE OR EMAIL SCRIPT
Hello my name is _______________. I am a constituent of the Delegate. I live/work in _____, Virginia. I am calling to urge the Delegate to SUPPORT SB 441.
SB 441 would help make sure immigrant crime victims feel safe reporting crimes to police, and that police are able to count on immigrant victim/witness cooperation to get dangerous predators off the street and out of our communities.
SB 441 is desperately needed to broadcast that Virginia places safety before status. With different towns considering or taking different approaches to immigration enforcement, SB 441 would be a powerful tool to combat confusion and reassure victims that wherever they are, they can count on the police to help.
