W EALT H

Newsletter of the WIN Womens Health Policy Network

February 2013 Were on Facebook!

Womens Health Needs the Violence Against Women Act!

On February 12th, the U.S. Senate passed reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in a 78-22 vote. It is now up to the House of Representatives to pass legislation to reauthorize VAWA, something the 112th Congress was unable to accomplish. The provisions of VAWAs reauthorization could have a major impact on improving womens health. The programs and services provided by VAWA include community violence prevention programs, funding for victim assistance services like rape crisis centers and hotlines, protection for victims evicted because of events related to domestic violence or stalking, services for victims with disabilities, programs that address the needs of immigrant women and women in underserved communities, and legal aid for survivors of violence. Intimate partner violence can include physical violence, sexual violence, threats of physical or sexual violence, and/or psychological or emotional violence. Women who have experienced intimate partner violence at the hands of a current or former partner or spouse can suffer from a wide variety of health issues. Physical violence has the potential for causing death, disability, injury or harm. Sexual violence can carry risks for unintended pregnancies, trauma to reproductive organs that could lead to future infertility, and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections, including the risk of HIV. The physical and emotional health consequences also include depression, anxiety, isolation from social networks, increased substance use and abuse, and chronic stress. According to the Center for Disease Control, the cost of intimate partner violence can exceed $8.3 billion dollars in medical and mental health care, loss of productivity and missed work, and ongoing annual health care costs.

Network Announcement
Sunday, March 24, 2-4 pm: Join the Womens Health Policy and Health, Wellness, & Recreation Networks for our second Health Roundtable Potluck of the WIN-Year. The discussion will focus on the relationship between nutrition & womens health. RSVP to healthpolicy@winonline.org!

Did You Know? February is:

American Heart Month: Did

you know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S.? One in every three deaths is from heart disease/stroke and each year heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined. Women of color are more likely to have multiple risk factors for heart disease according to the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics.
Black History Month: Celebrate Black History

Womens Health on the Hill

January 29: Senate passed a reso-

Month with the U.S. Office of Minority Health learn about disproportionate health risks and Black History Makers in Health!
February 26 - March 10 is National Eating Disor-

ders Awareness Week. Eating disorders are serious, potentially life-threatening conditions that impact emotional and physical health. ED frequently coexists with other illnesses such as depression, substance abuse, or anxiety disorders. For more information about ED, visit NIMH.

lution (S. Res. 14) to raise awareness and encourage prevention of stalking by designating January 2013 as National Stalking Awareness Month February 12: Senate passed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) (S. 47), as amended February 13: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee approved the Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who deliver Infants Early (PREEMIE) Act (S. 252)

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New Health Policy Resources

New report, Guide to Clinical Preventive Ser The Commonwealth Fund: New report, Implementing

the Affordable Care Act: State Action on the 2014 Market Reforms. Families USA: New online resource guide to assist in the full implementation of the ACA, State Advocate To-Do List for 2013. Health & Human Services: Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality: New toolkit to support private and public organizations in advancing ACA's mission. National Quality Strategy Stakeholder Toolkit.

vices, 2012: Recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. CMS: New ACA report, The Affordable Care Act: A Stronger Medicare Program. Healthy Schools Campaign: New report, Health in Mind: Improving Education Through Wellness. The National Institute for Health Care Management: New factsheet, Fostering Healthy Families Through Stable Housing - The Role of the Health Care System. Pew Research Hispanic Center: New data report, A Portrait of the 40 Million, Including 11 Million Unauthorized: A Nation of Immigrants.

Meet a WINner in Womens Health!

Laura Nixon Reproductive Justice Fellow National Center for Lesbian Rights

What led you to do reproductive justice work? Sister Songs 2007 Lets Talk About Sex conference was a transformative moment for me as I saw all the issues that people think of as peripheral to reproductive health and rights reconceived as fully integrated. The reproductive justice framework spoke directly to how racism, poverty, and sexism underscored the struggles of many of the women I had worked with. How did you come to join the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)? I began law school determined to meet peoples legal needs at the intersection of multiple struggles related to pregnancy and parenting. Following law school, I served as a Fellow in the Office of the General Counsel at The City University of New York & a temporary Legislative Fellow at the Center for Reproductive Rights. I was accepted as a Law Students for Reproductive Justice Fellow at NCLR. What does your job entail? I help advance NCLR's policy and legis-

lative priorities by strengthening and expanding NCLR's reproductive justice work. Sometimes this means providing support to our Family Protection Project, sometimes this means representing NCLR at coalition meetings of reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations. NCLR is taking the lead as an LGBT organization for reproductive justice so I work to knit these two social movements more closely together. What is the most challenging aspect of your job? Most rewarding aspect? The most challenging aspect is balancing the different kinds of persuasive writing inherent in different advocacy strategies from a tweet to a blog post to a fact sheet to a workshop presentation to a legal memo. The most rewarding aspect is getting to work with colleagues who are intentional about ensuring our advocacy for LGBT people is intersectional (and are generally just a joy to work with!) What skills have been most useful in your advocacy work? What training do you wish youd had? I received my law degree from The City University of New York School of Law, which has a social justice mission dedicated to training law-

yers for careers in the public interest. This experience trained me to think intersectionally, which deeply informs how I work at the nexus of LGBT rights and reproductive health rights, and justice. What are your long-term professional interests? I plan to continue as an advocate at the intersections of LGBT rights and reproductive health, rights, and justice, I am also interested in law teaching as a career. I am the product of good teaching, from my parents, who are public elementary school educators, all the way to law school. What advice would you give to young women just starting out in your field? Make your world big! You are a stronger advocate when you are familiar with issues and movements outside the scope of your day-to-day work. Say yes to opportunities to improve your skills, even if they are not in the exact area of your passion. My final piece of advice is from one of my favorite authors Cheryl Strayed.be ten times more magnanimous than you feel capable of being in any situation.
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