MALLIKA DUTT: CURRENT “WAR ON WOMEN” IS ATTACK ON ALL U.S. WOMEN, INCLUDING IMMIGRANTS

Today, Breakthrough president and CEO Mallika Dutt joins the We Belong Together delegation calling for an end to human rights abuses against women, children and families caused by federal immigration enforcement and by Alabama’s HB56. The group of nationally recognized women’s rights advocates and thought leaders arrive in Alabama this afternoon. Alabama’s HB56, enacted last June, is considered the nation’s strictest immigration enforcement law.

“Today’s escalating ‘war on women’ has — rightly — sparked broad outrage and urgent action to protect women’s rights in the United States. But the ‘war on immigrants’ is not merely a coincidental crisis. Both are elements of a sweeping and profound crusade against women’s fundamental human rights here at home,” said Breakthrough president and CEO Mallika Dutt.

“Laws like Alabama’s HB56 and federal enforcement measures like 287g devastate women, families, economies, and — it’s becoming clear — the soul of our nation. How can we stand by while women are denied basic reproductive care — and forced to give birth in shackles? While women are attacked for using birth control — and afraid to call the police to report an abuser? We must continue to fight, side by side, for the fundamental human rights of all women in the United States.”

Dutt noted the experiences of immigrant women including Juana Villegas, who was detained after a routine traffic stop and forced to give birth in shackles, and Shirley Tan, who lives in fear of being separated from her female partner of 10 years and their two children because she is undocumented and unable to marry legally.

Breakthrough is a global human rights organization that uses the power of media, arts, pop culture, and community-based action to inspire people to take bold action for dignity, equality, and justice. Working out of centers in the U.S. and India, Breakthrough addresses critical global issues including violence against women, HIV and sexuality, immigration and racial justice.

We Belong Together is an initiative of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the National Asian Pacific American Womens Forum, and others, to bring attention to the ways in which unjust immigration laws affect women, children and families.

KJ