Congress Reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act
News: A look at what's in the final bill.
December 19, 2005
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The Violence Against Women Act gained final approval from Congress on Saturday, just before the holiday recess. Final negotiations between the House and Senate versions of the bill centered on language and funding for crucial programs such as rape prevention and education, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and training for health care providers.
Women's rights advocates, who had worried that important provisions would be lost at the last minute, are celebrating the bill's passage as a major success.
"There was a sustained level of drama, trying to figure out if those desperately-needed programs were going to make it in," says Lisalyn R. Jacobs of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women. "I guess Santa decided he was going to be beneficent."
Highlights of the reauthorization include:
Rape Survivor Services
For the first time ever, VAWA contains funding for programs that provide direct services to victims of sexual assault. In the past, federal legislation only addressed rape prevention and education. But the new Sexual Assault Services Act provides for counseling, rape kits, legal assistance and medical services for survivors.
Housing
Domestic violence victims are often evicted on account of their abusers' violence, so advocates worked with the real-estate lobby to include provisions that allow victims to break a lease if they’re fleeing their abuser. In addition, VAWA prevents landlords from evicting tenants who call police to report abuse. The bill contains language that works for both victims and landlords, says Allison Randall of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. And for the significant number of victims who leave their abusers and find themselves homeless, VAWA expands transitional housing options and ensures victims’ confidentiality within the homeless services system.
Drivers' Licenses
Provisions in Rep. James Sensenbrenner’s (R-WI) REAL ID Act mandated that all state driver's licenses and ID cards contain a physical address. Previously, domestic violence victims could register a P.O. Box in order to hide their whereabouts from their abusers. Advocates say REAL ID's physical address requirement would put victims at greater risk, and succeeded in inserting language in VAWA to remedy the problem.
Health Care Providers
VAWA contains grant money to train nurses and other health care professionals on dealing with victims of violence. The funding is for programs that not only teach them how to recognizes the signs of domestic violence, but also how to work with victims and refer them to appropriate services.
Employer Resources
Victims of violence are routinely fired if they miss significant number of work hours while obtaining legal or medical services, and so for the past 10 years advocates have tried to secure employment protections within VAWA. And while the reauthorization doesn’t contain huge victories like unemployment insurance, it does create a resource center where employers can get information on domestic violence and the workplace. “This resource center will hopefully be helpful to employees, but also make the workplace simultaneously more productive and safe,” Jacobs says.
The legislation also contains a section "clarifying" that VAWA-funded programs are gender-neutral. Men’s rights groups, which have long pushed for VAWA to be made “male-inclusive,” are hailing the language as a victory. But domestic violence groups say VAWA has never denied services to men.
"From our perspective, VAWA was never discriminatory. So we don’t necessarily understand why there was such an organized movement toward incorporating that language," says Cheryl O'Donnell of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. "Of course we want to ensure that services are available to all victims of violence. At the same time, the reason it’s called the Violence Against Women Act is that it's recognizing that women are overwhelmingly the victims of violence."
The legislation is currently awaiting President Bush’s signature.
Ann Friedman is an editorial intern at Mother Jones.
