Violence Against Women Act
The Religious Action Committee (RAC) and other organizations are encouraging the passage of a number of bills that protect some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society. This month's newsletter will take a deeper dive into the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
As reported by the RAC in the United States, nearly one in three women and one in six men will survive some type of sexual assault or violence in their lifetime. Nearly 20 people are physically abused by an intimate partner every minute. This amounts to a staggering 10 million individuals every year.
In 1993, the first VAWA was signed into law. VAWA was enacted to address the scourge of gender-based violence for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. VAWA is up for reauthorization every five years, but Congress let the bill lapse in December 2018.
Based on information from the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), on March 8, 2021, a bipartisan bill to renew and improve VAWA was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The reauthorization takes a holistic approach, addressing the complex realities of survivors' lives while maintaining established protections and addressing persistent gaps. The reauthorization bill addresses the following points.
- housing protections that allow survivors in federally-assisted housing to relocate to new, safe housing;
- closure of legal loopholes in existing federal domestic violence-related firearm laws;
- restoration of tribal jurisdiction that allows tribes to hold non-native perpetrators accountable when they commit assault crimes on native lands; and
- non-discrimination requirements that guarantee equal access to VAWA protections for all survivors regardless of gender
The bill passed by the House of Representatives in 2019 includes a provision that bars selling a gun to those who have misdemeanor convictions of domestic abuse and/or stalking. The bill also expands the definition of who is impacted by existing gun prohibition to include dating partners.
The House version of the bill was passed on March 17, 2021, and was sent to the Senate on March 18.
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