Following the ongoing saga surrounding the kidnap of school girls from a dormitory where they slept last month in Borno State of northern Nigeria, a group of American senators has come together to introduce a bill that makes the reduction of violence against women globally a priority.

The bi-partisan group of senators which introduced the Violence Against Women Act yesterday (March 9) includes Democratic Party’s Barbara Boxer (California), Robert Menendez (New Jersey), and Jean Shaheen of the state of New Hampshire. From the Republican Party are Susan Collins (Maine) and Mark Kirk (Illinois).

The bill, if passed into law by the US Congress, will make America’s response to issues of violence against women around the world mandatory and quicker.

The bill, among other things, hopes to ensure that the Office of Global Women’s Issues is a permanent fixture in the US State Department and requires that USAIDS global programs emphasise the reduction of violence against women.

In a statement, Senator Boxer said: “The recent kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian school girls underscores the horrific violence that too many women and girls across the globe face everyday. The International Violence Against Women Act will make it clear that ending discrimination and violence against women and girls is a top priority for the United States and central to our national security interests.”

Lamenting what she considers US’ slow response to the kidnapping of the Nigerian girls by the Boko Haram terrorists, Ritu Sharma, co-founder and president of Women Thrive Worldwide, echoed senator Boxer’s comments on the subject. “It took roughly three weeks for the U.S to announce some concrete action to help bring back the 270 Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by terrorist militants,” she said in a statement. “The International Violence Against Women Act would compel a more immediate and effective response.”

Meanwhile, the international community has joined the search to free the kidnapped Nigerian school girls from their abductors with British and American Special Forces already in the country to map out ways of succeeding in their mission.

•Photo shows Sen. Robert Menendez, one of the sponsors of the bill.

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