LULAC Stands with Domestic Violence Victims Here and Around the World

Washington, D.C. - The following is a statement from Sindy Benavides, Chief Operating Officer and Acting CEO for LULAC. "For centuries, governments and societies have ignored the plight and conditions of abused women. In recent years, our laws and international standards of human rights now recognize that this failure to protect domestic violence victims emanates from discrimination. Attorney General Sessions takes a big step backward to the repressive times when women were left defenseless. LULAC stands with domestic violence victims here and around the world."

Our nation is founded on the principles of providing refuge to those who are targeted for persecution and violence in their own country and for whom returning represents a serious threat, even the loss of their lives. There can be no clearer situation than that of a woman, often a mother, fleeing a country where she is the victim of brutal repression and physical violence by her spouse or partner and has nowhere else to seek shelter for herself and her children. Very often their lives are also at risk and she cannot leave her children behind.

For Attorney General Sessions to state that, “The prototypical refugee flees her home country because the government has persecuted her,” fails to see the immigrant women reaching our border as human beings with circumstances specific to each. They ought not to be viewed as statistics in a broad category without any distinction. To do so, makes a mockery of America’s long history as a nation which seeks to assist asylum seekers. Rather than institute a political ‘zero tolerance’ policy, Attorney General Sessions should focus on ensuring that this country does not commit illegal acts and violate civil and human rights of individuals who seek protection.

We urge Members of Congress to pressure the U.S. Justice Department into respecting the human rights of immigrant women who are victims of violence and not allow Attorney General Sessions to abandon them to a fate which will stain the United States of America now and for years to come.

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The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with over 1,000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit www.LULAC.org