Some of the most forgotten women will be further victimized if we allow the “Equality Act” to pass. Abuse shelters, designed to protect women, will no longer be havens of hope but dens for their abusers.

In Anchorage, Alaska, the city tried to impose a local version of the Equality Act. The city tried to force Hope Center to welcome biological males to sleep alongside women. These men, claiming to be women, would be able to stay all night just a few feet away from vulnerable women, many of whom had recently survived trafficking, domestic violence, or other abuse at the hands of men.

If we do not stand up right now, the Equality Act (reintroduced as HR 15) will throw open the door for more abuse to these at-risk women at the most vulnerable point in their lives!

WE MUST STOP THIS BILL! Send your fax to Congress to stop the "Equality Act" from endangering people in our communities.

Sarah* lost her husband to cancer. Two years later, she lost her home. What she saw happening in these shelters was shocking.

“I stayed in other local shelters for a long time,” she said. “But I was always scared. People at those shelters used drugs and alcohol, and there was a lot of fighting. I even saw women trafficked.”

She continued, “Even when there were separate dormitories for men and women, men would come into the women’s sleeping areas at night. That scared me. I have been abused—raped and beaten—including by men I met at shelters. One time, the police had to be called to a shelter because my boyfriend was abusing me. Because of these experiences, it is very hard for me to be in a vulnerable position, like sleeping, around any biological male. I do not feel safe. It brings up my past.”

But Sarah was turning her life around. She found the one women-only shelter in Anchorage. There she finally started feeling safe. Her self-esteem grew. She graduated from culinary school to start a new life.

“I have made so much progress in life skills, dealing with my emotions, respecting myself and my boundaries ... I want other women to be able to gain what I have gained through the Hope Center’s women’s shelter.”

Many women at the Hope Center have suffered rape, physical abuse, and domestic violence. When a man, identifying as a woman, drunk and injured, came to the center, the staff referred him to a local hospital. That’s when the Anchorage Human Rights Commission came after the shelter, claiming it discriminated against him on the basis of “gender identity.”

We can’t let the federal government force shelters, through the Equality Act, to welcome potential abusers next to women like Sarah who are trying to turn their life around.

But the help that turned Sarah’s life around will be stripped away by the Equality Act. Tell Congress to VOTE NO on the EQUALITY ACT.

Another woman at Hope Center testified under oath to the following:

“I spent time on the streets and I know how hard it can be out there. But if the Hope Center were forced to let any biological man into the women’s shelter, I would leave even if it meant sleeping in the woods. I would rather sleep in the woods than sleep in the same area as a biological man” (emphasis added).

She is not talking about the friendly woods of Tennessee or Virginia. This is the Alaskan frontier. When new staff arrive, they are instructed to carry a gun with them when they walk just 30 feet to use the outhouse.

Even if you have already responded, we need to keep the pressure on our legislators. The battle in Congress will be fierce, but we can win.

The reactions of these women are typical. National statistics show that 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 women have been raped. Sadly, statistics show that 1 in 3 women on Indian reservations have been raped, but the reality is even higher.

Keep in mind that out of every 1,000 sexual assault perpetrators, only 25 will ever be incarcerated while 975 of them will remain free. And they will have the same motivations that will drive them to abuse again.

In some of the shelters on and near Indian Reservations, community experts estimate that nearly 100% of the women (or girls) in the shelters have been raped. Under this new bill, abusers can turn these shelters into an inescapable pool of victims. We MUST stop HR 15.

In some places, women may only have one shelter.

Under the Equality Act, if a man were to walk into that shelter and demand access, then all the women there would be forced to sleep with him. Under HR 15, every shelter will be required to admit men with the women.

Our hearts break to think this one last safety net could be stripped from women like Sarah.

Our team is busier than ever working to stop this bill. Stand in the gap for these women by making your best possible donation today. Your 25, 50, or 100 dollars or especially a recurring monthly gift will help our team keep battling this devastating bill.