San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women

Resolution Urging the Mayor and Board of Supervisors to Support the

Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019, H.R. 1585

BE IT KNOWN That the Commission on the Status of Women of the City and County of San Francisco hereby issues and authorizes the execution, by the subscribing Commissioners, of the following resolution:

WHEREAS, The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019 with the inclusion of amendments that address economic abuse and expand firearm restrictions to partners not married, without children, or not living together, is crucial to facilitate the holistic approach needed to significantly reduce rates of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking, and to more comprehensively address the needs of survivors; and,

WHEREAS, Economic abuse is one of the most powerful tactics employed by abusers to gain long-term control and occurs across all socioeconomic, educational, and racial and ethnic groups; and,

WHEREAS, Economic abuse occurs in nearly all domestic violence cases and surveys of survivors reflect the concern that their ability to be financially independent and provide for their families is a primary reason for remaining or returning to an abusive partner; and,

WHEREAS, In San Francisco, half of all domestic violence homicide victims were killed by guns between fiscal year 2014 and 2017; research also shows that across the nation, the presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%; and,

WHEREAS, The San Francisco Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector’s 2014 report on their financial coaching pilot with La Casa de Las Madras served as the inspiration for the amendment by California Congresswoman Katie Porter to add economic abuse to the Violence Against Women Act;

NOW THERFORE BE IT RESOLVED That the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women urges the Mayor and Board of Supervisors to support the critical Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019 with the provisions of economic abuse and firearm restrictions to address the full spectrum of abuse that survivors face.

Deborah Mesloh, President                          Breanna Zwart, Vice President                           Meena Harris

Shokooh Miry           Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz                     Andrea Shorter                         Julie D. Soo

San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women

May 22, 2019