This year marks the 10^th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and also provides Congress with the opportunity to build on the improvements made over the past ten years to criminal justice and community-based responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.  First passed in 1994, VAWA is scheduled to be reauthorized in 2005 and a wide array of organizations (from victims’ advocates to law enforcement to faith communities to labor unions) are coming together to support the reauthorization, offering recommendations to encourage even greater responsiveness to victim’s needs and continue making communities safer and stronger.

Background

VAWA is landmark legislation that has been a critical tool in raising awareness about domestic and sexual violence and the harm they cause to individuals, families, and society, and it has helped change the landscape for victims who once suffered in silence. The original VAWA legislation, enacted in 1994, established new federal penalties and definitions for domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, created the National Domestic Violence Hotline, authorized grants to train police, prosecutors, and court officials, and provided grants to assist victims through emergency shelters and supportive services.  VAWA was reauthorized in 2000 as part of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, in which provisions were added to increase funding authorization levels*, establish a legal-assistance program for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and to provide further protections for immigrant, rural, disabled and older women.

Over the past decade, VAWA has brought together the criminal justice and social service systems along with private non-profit organizations to provide education and training to better identify and respond to violence, new legal resources and protections for victims, and greater coordination of and support for the efforts of domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, and other community organizations nationwide working everyday to end this violence.  Millions of women, children, and families are better off as a result.  Consider the following improvements:

v      States have passed more than 660 laws to combat domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. All states have passed laws making stalking a crime and changed laws that treated date or spousal rape as a lesser crime than stranger rape.

v      Since 1996, the National Domestic Violence Hotline has answered over 1 million calls. The Hotline answers over 16,000 calls a month and provides access to translators in 139 languages.

v      Businesses also have joined the national fight against violence. Hundreds of companies, led by the model programs established by Altria, Polaroid, Liz Claiborne, The Body Shop, Aetna and DuPont, have created Employee Assistance Programs that help victims of domestic violence.

v      More victims are reporting violence: among victims of violence by an intimate partner, the percentage of women who reported the crime was greater in 1998 (59%) than in 1993 (48%).

(Source – National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women)

*Authorized levels are the upper limit of funding for programs.  The actual funding levels for VAWA programs are determined by the annual appropriations process and have never reached the full authorized level. The total amount authorized for all VAWA programs (by the 2000 VAWA reauthorization) is $729 million per year; from FY2003-FY2005 the amount appropriated by Congress has fallen from $570.1 million to $565.3 million.

The Need Still Exists

As much as VAWA has accomplished, more still needs to be done. Consider a few disturbing facts:

v      Nearly 5.3 million intimate partner victimizations occur each year among U.S. women ages 18 and older. This violence results in nearly 2 million injuries and nearly 1,300 deaths (“Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States,” Centers for Disease Control, 2003)

v      The costs of intimate partner violence exceed $5.8 billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health care services. (Centers for Disease Control, 2003)

v      In the 2004 hunger and homelessness report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 44% of the cities surveyed identified domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness. A lack of alternative housing often leads women to stay in or return to violent relationships.

v      “Zero tolerance for crime” policies adopted by many landlords often penalize victims of domestic violence and as a result of a federal “one strike” policy related to crimes and disturbances, many victims of domestic violence have been evicted or denied housing because of their abuser’s actions.*

v      Despite the availability of victim services, almost 70% of victims are without legal representation. In a study conducted by the New Hampshire state court, in 97% of domestic violence cases, at least one party acts without an attorney, creating ethical conflicts for both lawyers and judges.*

v      Minors, under the age of 18, account for 67% of all sexual assault victimizations reported to law enforcement officials.*

v      Between one quarter and one half of domestic violence victims report that they had lost a job due, at least in part, to domestic violence. Similarly, almost 50% of sexual assault survivors lose their jobs or are forced to quit in the aftermath of the crime.*

* Information taken from fact sheets prepared by the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women

Good Shepherd Connection

Throughout the congregation’s 350-year history, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd have dedicated themselves to reconciliation, reaching out to people, especially women and girls who have experienced violence, injustice, oppression and alienation due to life circumstances or unjust social structures.  In the United States this commitment is manifested through a variety of ministries and programs, including domestic violence shelters and counseling services.  In Los Angeles in 1977, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd opened one of the first shelters for victims of domestic violence in the United States.  In Chicago, over 1100 families have been served by the House of the Good Shepherd, also a domestic violence shelter, in the past 20 years.  As these and other programs provide direct care and support to women and children affected by domestic violence, the National Advocacy Center seeks to complement this work by advocating for improvements in the systems (criminal justice/legal, social services, healthcare, etc) that impact families in their quest to live lives free of violence. 

Looking Toward Reauthorization

In the coming weeks, legislation to reauthorize VAWA will hopefully be introduced. This legislation will need to be passed by Congress by the end of September, when the current authorization will expire. 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.  

A broad coalition of organizations is pushing for a number of improvements – focusing more on prevention and intervention services for children and youth, providing more housing options, better addressing economic security and workplace protections for victims, expanding outreach to rural, Native and minority communities, and increasing domestic and sexual violence screening and health treatment services.  A detailed set of recommendations has been developed by the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence and is available at http://www.vawa2005.org.

A critical aim of VAWA reauthorization will be to design policies that move toward a more holistic, community-based response to different forms of violence.  Input from community organizations – those with direct experience and insight into what is needed to continue to improve services for all those affected by domestic and sexual violence – is essential.

The National Advocacy Center welcomes and appreciates input from all Good Shepherd agencies and communities as we advocate for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act – What are the greatest needs for clients? What inhibits the work that you do? What would you tell a member of Congress to do to improve services for victims of violence?  Please send us your thoughts, so that we can better advocate for all who have experienced violence in their homes or relationships.

TAKE ACTION NOW!!

For More Information

Family Violence Prevention Fund

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

National Network to End Domestic Violence

Toolkit to End Violence Against Women – National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women