Violence Against Women Act

The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law. It was passed as Title IV, sec. 40001-40703 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 HR 3355 and signed as Public Law 103-322 by President Bill Clinton on September 13 1994. It provided $1.6 billion to enhance investigation and prosecution of the violent crime perpetrated against women, increased pre-trial detention of the accused, provided for automatic and mandatory restitution of those convicted, and allowed civil redress in cases prosecutors chose to leave unprosecuted.

VAWA was drafted by Senator Joseph Biden's office with support from a number of advocacy organizations including [http://www.legalmomentum.org/ Legal Momentum] and The National Organization for Women, which heralded the bill as "the greatest breakthrough in civil rights for women in nearly two decades."

VAWA was reauthorized by Congress in 2000, and again in December 2005. The bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 5, 2006. [ [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060105-3.html www.whitehouse.gov] ]

VAWA will be up for reauthorization in 2010.

International perspectives

International Violence Against Women Act of 2007

*Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to establish in the Department of State the Office of Women's Global Initiatives (which shall replace the Office of International Women's Issues) to coordinate U.S. government efforts respecting international women's issues. Establishes within the Department an Advisory Commission on International Violence Against Women.

*Directs the President to develop a comprehensive strategy to prevent violence against women and girls. Directs the Coordinator of the Women's Global Initiatives to ensure that foreign assistance programs incorporate measures to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. Provides that U.S. training of foreign military and police forces incorporates training on prevention of violence against women and girls.

*Directs the Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to assist programs that prevent and respond to violence against women and girls in all humanitarian relief, conflict, and post-conflict operations. Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) encourage U.N. member states to expand the number of female members of U.N. peacekeeping missions; and (2) take emergency measures to respond to violence against women and girls during conflict or post-conflict operations.

*Expresses the sense of Congress that the United Nations should strengthen its ability to prevent violence against women and girls by U.N. military and civilian personnel. Provides that Foreign Service training include instruction on prevention of violence against women and girls. Authorizes appropriations to support the United Nations Development Fund for Women Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence Against Women.

The World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women [ [http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/A.RES.48.104.En?Opendocument] ] in the same year, concluded that civil society and governments have acknowledged that domestic violence is a public health policy and human rights concern.

The World Health Organization [ [http://www.who.int/gender/violence/who_multicountry_study/en/] ] conducted an extensive study on world-wide domestic violence. Released in 2005, the study analyzed data from 10 countries and sheds new light on the prevalence of violence against women. It seeks to look at domestic violence from a public health policy perspective.

The findings from this and other studies can be used to inform a more effective response from government, including the health, justice and social service sectors, as a step towards fulfilling the state’s obligation to curtail domestic violence under international human rights laws.

Criticisms

Various groups have voiced concerns that VAWA violates due process, equal protection, and other civil rights violations.

The American Civil Liberties Union had originally expressed concerns about the Act, saying that the increased penalties were rash, the increased pretrial detention was "repugnant" to the US Constitution, the mandatory HIV testing of those only charged but not convicted is an infringement of a citizen’s right to privacy and the edict for automatic payment of full restitution was non-judicious (see their paper: "Analysis of Major Civil Liberties Abuses in the Crime Bill Conference Report as Passed by the House and the Senate", dated September 29 1994). However, the ACLU has supported reauthorization of VAWA on the condition that the "unconstitutional DNA provision" be removed. [ [https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=251&page=UserAction Tell Congress to Support the Violence Against Women Act] ] The ACLU, in their July 27, 2005 'Letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee Regarding the Violence Against Women Act of 2005, S. 1197' stated that "VAWA is one of the most effective pieces of legislation enacted to end domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. It has dramatically improved the law enforcement response to violence against women and has provided critical services necessary to support women and children in their struggle to overcome abusive situations." [ [http://www.aclu.org/womensrights/violence/19921leg20050727.html] ]

In 2000, in a controversial 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court of the United States held part of VAWA unconstitutional in United States v. Morrison on federalism grounds. Only the civil rights remedy of VAWA was struck down. The provisions providing program funding were unaffected. [See: United States v. Morrison,529 U.S. 598, 627; "For these reasons, we conclude that Congress' power under § 5 does not extend to the enactment of § 13981.... The judgment of the Court of Appeals is Affirmed."]

References

External links

* [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h3402enr.txt.pdf Violence Against Women Act]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:Z5PLbXSnOLsJ:holt.house.gov/pdf/CRSonVAWADec2005.pdf+Congressional+Research+Service+(CRS)+Reports+regarding+the+Violence+Against+Women+Act&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding the Violence Against Women Act]
* [http://www.endabuse.org Family Violence Prevention Fund]
* [http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov Office on Violence Against Women]
* [http://www.epic.org/privacy/dv/vawa.html Privacy Provisions of the Violence Against Women Act]
* [http://www.endabuse.org/vawa/factsheets/Reauthorization.pdf Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization]
* [http://www.who.int/gender/violence/who_multicountry_study/en/ World Health Organization Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women 2005]