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[Posted by Elena Sytcheva]

On Friday, Vice President Joe Biden—who authored the groundbreaking Violence Against Women Act —brought domestic violence policy to the forefront by announcing Lynn Rosenthal as White House Advisor on Violence Against Women. The appointment of Rosenthal, whose primary role in this newly created position will be to advise President Obama and Vice President Biden on domestic violence and sexual assault issues, coordinate with government agencies, and develop new initiates combating violence with advocacy groups and Congress members, is no-doubt a positive move. However, given that women experience about 4.8 million intimate-partner related physical assaults and rapes per year in the U.S. alone, according to the National Organization for Women (NOW), there is still much work to be done on this front. Sue Else, the President of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, commented, “Lynn Rosenthal is a pioneer in the movement against domestic abuse and sexual assault. Her expertise will help to shape federal policies that will serve countless survivors of domestic and sexual violence.” During a panel discussion on domestic violence, that took place after Biden’s announcement, Kim Gandy, outgoing President of NOW added, “It’s extremely important to have advocacy at the highest level of government for both prevention and services related to the extraordinary epidemic.”

Last week Steven Waldman and William Saletan’s dialogue “Two Men, No Uteruses” on a “common ground” approach on abortion featured on Bloggingheads.tv and picked up by the New York Times, sparked a major backlash in the blogosphere. Jill Filipovich of Feministe was infuriated, writing, “Their big idea, apparently, is to just pay women if they promise to give their baby up for adoption — but not too much, as Waldman warns, as we would hate to provide an “incentive” for women to go out and have babies for money.” Filipovich suggested, “There’s quite a bit we can do to help women not get pregnant when they don’t want to be pregnant, and to help pregnant women who may want to have a child feel economically stable enough to do so. That’s the common ground between pro-lifers and pro-choicers.” Jodi Jacobson at RH Reality Check weighed in, saying, “This whole conversation confirmed my own fears. Like I said last week: This isn’t about what women need for healthy, safe, reproductive and sexual lives; it’s not about public health or human rights; it’s not about the health of women or their children or their families, and it focuses on the wrong part of the process. Even Waldman and Saletan, (who now complains about “abortion fatigue”) see this as a political football game based largely on a fake play.” Jacobson eschews Waldman’s suggestion that opposition to abortion and contraception are not connected and is stunned by his assertion that the pro-choice movement “give a little bit” for the acceptance of a common ground package, stating that comprehensive sex education has always included information on abstinence. She says that the administration should place more focus on prevention efforts and devote “considerable time and political capital to the issues once any proposal leaves the Oval Office and hits Congress.”

While President Obama cutting most abstinence-only funding from the 2010 budget is an encouraging sign, this plan is far from perfect with 25 percent of the $164 million marked for teen pregnancy prevention open to abstinence-only programs. The language of the budget does not make room for initiatives to curb sexually transmitted infections while abstinence-only organizations rebrand their images to appear more mainstream according to Jessica Valenti’s Nation article, “The Virginity Movement, Rebranded.” Valenti writes, “So while the virginity movement re-evaluates its image and messaging, progressives have to be just as prepared to battle back with renewed energy, with an eye toward legislative and policy gains and toward assuring that these groups don’t regain their cultural footing.” Given that by the age of forty-four 99% of Americans will have had sex according to Trends in Premarital Sex in the United States, 1954-2003, Public Health Reports. Jan/Feb 2007 and Obama’s recent appointment of Alexia Kelley to head the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, people should clearly heed Valenti’s advice and remain vigilant by leading the national discussion on comprehensive sex education in this new administration.