(l to r) Katie Temes and Gerry Sherman of Ridgefield with Senator Murphy, and AJWS staff Rebecca Kaplan and Leah Kaplan Robins. Photo credit: Jeff Zorabedian, courtesy of AJWS.

On Tuesday, May 13, Katie Temes of New Haven and Gerry Sherman of Ridgefield met with Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and staff from the offices of Senator Richard Blumenthal.

(D-CT) and Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) to urge them to vote for the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) – a new Senate bill that aims to improve the lives of the millions of women and girls who suffer from violence and abuse worldwide, at no cost to U.S. taxpayers. Sherman and Temes were among 150 supporters of American Jewish World Service (AJWS) on Capitol Hill. AJWS is the leading Jewish international development and human rights organization.

Lobby Day marked the culmination of AJWS’s Policy Summit, which is a part of We Believe, AJWS’s national advocacy campaign. We Believe, which launched last year, aims to help end violence against women and girls, stop hate crimes against LGBT people and empower girls to end child marriage. The first initiative of We Believe is to advocate for the passage of IVAWA. IVAWA would, for the first time, put the full power of the U.S. government behind the fight to end violence against women and girls internationally.