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Protect Women from Abuse: Support the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act

Target: U.S. House of Representatives
Sponsored by: Women's Funding Network

Many women in poor countries are so desperate for security and a better life that they are willing to use international marriage brokers to find a stable home. But the marketing practices of many international marriage brokers attract predatory abusers with a history of violence against women and children.

As a result, women seeking better lives in our country are being abused, even murdered, by the men they meet through the online brokers.

Domestic abuse of mail-order brides is just one example of the larger problem of human trafficking in the United States and around the world. Each year alone, approximately 14,500 to17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. and then sold into a life of sexual exploitation and/or slave labor. And a staggering 80% of trafficking victims are women and girls.

There is a bill in Congress right now that can help to protect women from abusive men and unscrupulous international marriage brokers: the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA), H.R.3657. Please sign this petition to urge your representative to support this bill today!

deadline: 10-18-2006
goal: 15,000

18,128
signatures!

Sign Petition! see who signed this

Thank you for taking action in support of the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act! We have delivered all of your letters to Congress and are awaiting action on this bill.

To learn more about the crisis of human trafficking, visit US Women Without Borders.

To take further action to help women around the world, visit our Women's Rights petitions and help make the world a better place for women and girls. Thank you!

This petition is now closed.

Dear Representative,

I live in CITY, STATE, and I have become increasingly concerned with the issue of human trafficking, particularly as it affects women and girls, around the world and in my own neighborhood. I am writing to urge you to support the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA), H.R.3657.

Many women in poor countries are so desperate for security and a better life that they are willing to use international marriage brokers to find a stable home. But the marketing practices of many international marriage brokers attract predatory abusers with a history of violence against women and children. As a result, women seeking better lives in our country are being abused, even murdered, by the men they meet through the online brokers.

IMBRA aims to safeguard these women from becoming easy prey by:

§ Prohibiting an international marriage broker from recruiting girls under age 18;
§ Requiring that before brokers release a woman’s contact information to a person, they must provide her with a copy of the background collected on that person, advise her of the rights and resources available to domestic violence victims in the U.S. in written form, and obtain her written consent to release her contact information;
§ Requiring that the criminal background check that the Department of Homeland Security conducts on Americans petitioning for a foreign fiancée or spousal visa be shared with the foreign fiancée or spouse; and
§ Halting the practice of Americans simultaneously seeking visas for multiple fiancées.

Each year alone, approximately 14,500 to17,500 people are trafficked into the United States. And a staggering 80% of trafficking victims are women and girls. IMBRA would go a long way toward addressing the specific problem of trafficking through international marriage brokers. I urge you to support IMBRA when it comes to a full vote in the House.

Sincerely,

[Your name]
[Your address]

We signed the “Protect Women from Abuse: Support the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act” petition!

# 50:

8:28 am PDT, Oct 21, Lorraine Webber, Tennessee

# 49:

8:19 am PDT, Oct 21, Name not displayed, New Jersey

# 48:

8:15 am PDT, Oct 21, Isma Awendragoness, United Kingdom
Slavery is an act of violence against human's. We are living in the year 2005 and not in the past. Human's have to evolve, and not stucked in the past, if we all really want to have a change on this planet to life in Peace

# 47:

8:15 am PDT, Oct 21, Paul Burdine, California

# 46:

8:15 am PDT, Oct 21, Amanda Meeker, Virginia

# 45:

8:07 am PDT, Oct 21, Iris Meier, Canada
Slavery is wrong, and it doesn't matter if its disguised as a mail-order bride or not.

# 44:

7:59 am PDT, Oct 21, Stephanie Hobby Donovan, Massachusetts

# 43:

7:53 am PDT, Oct 21, Soren Petersen, Denmark

# 42:

7:27 am PDT, Oct 21, Name not displayed, Massachusetts

# 41:

7:25 am PDT, Oct 21, Karen Merrill, Minnesota
if you have to have a background check for a job, etc...why are we letting these hoodlums traffic human beings?

# 40:

7:14 am PDT, Oct 21, Steve Metcalf, Rhode Island

# 39:

7:03 am PDT, Oct 21, Marcela Del valle, California

# 38:

6:58 am PDT, Oct 21, Tom Schreckengast, Pennsylvania

# 37:

6:37 am PDT, Oct 21, Susan Dunne, Ohio

# 36:

6:34 am PDT, Oct 21, Amy Selvius, Minnesota

# 35:

6:30 am PDT, Oct 21, Annamaria Koncz, Michigan

# 34:

6:29 am PDT, Oct 21, Njo Bean, California

# 33:

6:18 am PDT, Oct 21, Kim Kruger, Connecticut
We need to stop giving women to abusive men. Serious reform need to be enacted. Men are paying brokers to enable them to find victims. Would a criminal background check be too hard. Or how about a phone call to the EX's.

# 32:

6:16 am PDT, Oct 21, Martha Martin, Alabama
Just think how you would feel and what you would want to see done if this were a female you loved and cared for. Imagine your daughter, mother, sister, cousin or wife, imagaine someone grabbing her, ripping her violently from your life with you unable to find her or help protect her from what she is destined to endure. Now go and search your heart and soul, that is, if you have one. Following your heart and doing what is right never hurt anyone.

# 31:

6:11 am PDT, Oct 21, Natchie De Jesus, Philippines

# 30:

6:01 am PDT, Oct 21, Calvin C, rydbom, Ohio

# 29:

5:27 am PDT, Oct 21, Shelley Errington Nicholson, New Hampshire

# 28:

5:18 am PDT, Oct 21, Anita Butler, Ohio

# 27:

5:06 am PDT, Oct 21, Name not displayed, Virginia

# 26:

4:40 am PDT, Oct 21, RayNice Hoffman, Pennsylvania

# 25:

4:38 am PDT, Oct 21, Deb McAllister, West Virginia
This should be a unanimous vote and NO additional pork legislation should be added! These are human beings we are trying to protect! Just think if your child was treated like this!

# 24:

4:30 am PDT, Oct 21, April Michaels, Indiana

# 23:

4:17 am PDT, Oct 21, Name not displayed, Georgia

# 22:

4:08 am PDT, Oct 21, Melissa Simpson, Utah

# 21:

4:01 am PDT, Oct 21, Jennifer Wexel, Michigan

# 20:

3:43 am PDT, Oct 21, Jessie Cross, Italy
We are talking about a new slave trade here.

# 19:

2:22 am PDT, Oct 21, Angela Bassett, Canada
The fact that we even have to sign a petition to stop this from happening, sickens me. We need a kinder,more caring world.

# 18:

2:18 am PDT, Oct 21, Barbara Tomlinson, Washington
There have been some terrible cases of murder of mail-order brides in the State of Washington recently; as you as a Congressperson must be well aware. Anything that can be done to stop the abuse -- in the memory of those mail-order brides for whom this legislation comes too late!

# 17:

1:12 am PDT, Oct 21, Emma Jewell, United Kingdom

# 16:

12:43 am PDT, Oct 21, Marc Silverman, California

# 15:

12:38 am PDT, Oct 21, Eva Cox, Texas

# 14:

12:00 am PDT, Oct 21, Meaghan Allen, Canada

# 13:

11:36 pm PDT, Oct 20, Name not displayed, Maine
No human being should be used and abused by another whether they are a US citizen or a poor woman from a 3rd world country desperate to improve her lot in life only to be suckered into being a modern slave. It is quite simply the right thing to do.

# 12:

11:27 pm PDT, Oct 20, Laurie Youngquist, Oregon

# 11:

10:00 pm PDT, Oct 20, Anais Kelly, California

# 10:

9:54 pm PDT, Oct 20, Shawna Lee, Nevada
John Lennon said it most eloquently in the first song on his 1972 album; 'Sometime In New York City', use your search engine and look up the lyrics, no man has ever thought more truthful words about women of the world

# 9:

9:40 pm PDT, Oct 20, Rikardo Jahnke, Wisconsin

# 8:

9:25 pm PDT, Oct 20, Tasneem Ismailji, California

# 7:

9:24 pm PDT, Oct 20, Willi Z, Australia

# 6:

9:23 pm PDT, Oct 20, Richard Hollister, Arizona

# 5:

9:22 pm PDT, Oct 20, Elana Kritikos, Illinois

# 4:

9:21 pm PDT, Oct 20, Lauri Peacock, New Mexico

# 3:

9:13 pm PDT, Oct 20, Jen Curtis, Arizona

# 2:

8:58 pm PDT, Oct 20, Name not displayed, Oregon

# 1:

8:52 pm PDT, Oct 20, Rebecca Young, California
Humn trafficking is a serious issue, and the practices of too many international marriage brokers puts immigrant women at great risk of abuse, violence, and even death.

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