'Violence against women and girls is both a cause and a consequence of HIV/AIDS.'
On Wednesday, October 21 at 2:00 p.m. in Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2172, Chairman Delahunt (D-MA) of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight will hold a hearing titled International Violence Against Women: Stories and Solutions. The hearing will feature testimony from UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer, and other experts addressing violence against women worldwide. Immediately after the hearing, a media availability event will be held in Rayburn Room 2200 with Congressman Delahunt, Ms. Kidman, and others.
A statement from GAA follows:
"We congratulate Chairman Delahunt for his leadership and commitment to human rights," said Dr. Paul Zeitz, Executive Director of the Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) and a physician with experience working with people with HIV/AIDS in Africa, India and South America. "Violence against women is a universal issue, and U.S. work to end this scourge will not only galvanize the global health, women's, children's and human rights movements, but will help restore credibility to the United States through effective use of soft power," he said.
The Global AIDS Alliance encourages swift introduction and bipartisan passage of the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA).