VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT (VAWA)
Violence Against Women Act Continues to Make Progress
www.vawa2005.org
On September 28th, the US House of Representatives passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) with an overwhelming 415-4 majority. Then, on October 4th, the Senate passed it in a unanimous vote. Members of both the House and the Senate are now working to settle the differences between the two versions and draft a finalized bill before the end of the year.
Reauthorization
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 was the first legislation to address violence against women and a giant step forward for our nation. Its passage meant that our federal government finally acknowledged the harm caused by domestic and sexual violence, and put resources into helping victims. Millions of women, children and families are better off as a result.
VAWA was reauthorized in 2000, continuing the essential work begun in 1994 and adding important services for immigrant, rural, disabled and older women. But VAWA will expire soon, and the challenge in 2005 is to reauthorize and improve it once again. The decisions Congress makes when it reauthorizes VAWA this year will set priorities and funding levels for years to come, determining what options will be available to victims of abuse, how well the criminal justice system will respond to violence, and whether our nation finally invests in prevention.
We need to continue assisting law enforcement and giving women supportive services, including housing, trained health care providers and job security. But the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 should also help prevent violence before it begins by targeting resources to children and youth who have been exposed to violence, and engaging men as allies in this work. And we need to target many more resources to help some of our marginalized citizens, including immigrant and Native American women who experience high rates of violence.
There are solutions to the violence that pervades our society. There is real hope that we can stop domestic and sexual violence. But that will only happen if Congress reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act and invests more resources into building healthy, peaceful communities.
