Ending Violence Against Women (Mock-up) - National Organization for Women

Introduction History

In 1994 NOW and the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (NOW LDEF) led the campaign to pass the Violence Against Women Act and we have worked with allies over the years to reauthorize VAWA and assure funding to support programs preventing violence against women, protections for survivors, and other supports. BIPOC women especially are at risk of domestic and sexual violence, and murder.

The House passed VAWA reauthorization in 2019, but it has failed to move in the Senate.

Over the last ten years, NOW and the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence has worked diligently to include within VAWA provisions that would facilitate better protections and justice for Native American women as survivors of violence living on reservations that depend upon tribal law enforcement and tribal courts to properly prosecute perpetrators.

Ending Violence Against Women

There are few subjects more personal and urgent than the issue of violence against women and that is why it is one of NOW’s six core issues. Our unique approach emphasizes the complexity of the issue and its interrelated factors, including domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, violence against abortion clinics and hate crimes across the lines of gender, sexuality and race.

NOW recognizes that violence against women is perpetuated through gender bias in the judicial system and systems of economic oppression and that we must address these deeply-seeded structural problems.

One of the most essential tools in advocating for this mission is the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), enacted on September 13, 1994. In the years leading up to that historic day, NOW and the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (NOW LDEF) led a long and crucially important campaign to victory. After passage, we led another uphill battle to get initial VAWA funding released. And every since we’ve brought that same feminist energy and activism to reauthorize and improve VAWA, to make sure that it is serving everyone who has faced violence.

March 2022 finally saw the most recent VAWA reauthorization signed into law by President Joe Biden, the author of the original VAWA. When the U.S. Senate failed to reauthorize VAWA in 2019, NOW members began a pressure campaign that could not be, and we won.

That commitment, and all the work done by allies and activists, has strengthened VAWA to expand protections for women from domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking to include additional services for tribal members, transgender and underserved communities. Now, more funding will go to rape prevention and education efforts, as well as training for law enforcement and the judicial system.

While NOW applauds this VAWA reauthorization, we know that it is only the beginning of our efforts. Congress must follow with a renewed commitment to childcare, healthcare, and other vital investments in our lives and future that help survivors and all families to live and thrive.

And we must make sure that VAWA evolves, even more, to ensure that there are robust and culturally relevant protections for all communities that need them. The Act comes up for renewal every five years, and NOW activists and allies continue to work on building on the existing protections and programs and expanding protections to make sure that all communities are included, particularly Black, Indigenous, and communities of color, undocumented women and the LGBTQIA+ community. NOW will activate the power of our grassroots and continue advocating until we see these priorities come to fruition once and for all.

“When you have a system that cannot hold people accountable, what is the message? The message to perpetrators is ‘I can get away with it,’ and the message to survivors is ‘no one will do anything to help me.’ And … I think that this perfect storm of legal problems explains why Native people suffer from such high rates of violence.”
-Professor Sarah Deer (Muscogee (Creek) Nation)

What is The Violence Against Women Act?

There are few subjects more personal and urgent than the issue of violence against women. Ending violence against women and educating the public about resources for survivors is one of NOW’s six core issues. Our unique approach emphasizes the complexity of the issue and its interrelated factors, including domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking (physical and cyber), violence against abortion clinics and hate crimes across the lines of gender, sexuality, and race.

One of the most essential tools in advocating for this mission is the Violence Against Women Act, enacted on September 13, 1994. In the years leading up to that historic day, NOW and the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (NOW LDEF) led a long and crucially important campaign to pass VAWA. After passage, we led another uphill battle to get initial funding released for the Act. Since then, we’ve brought that same feminist energy and activism to reauthorize and improve VAWA, to make sure that it is serving everyone who has faced violence.

March 2022 finally saw the most recent VAWA reauthorization signed into law by President Joe Biden, the author of the original VAWA. When the U.S. Senate failed to reauthorize VAWA in 2019, NOW members began a pressure campaign that has never stopped, and we won.

That commitment, and all the work done by allies and activists, has strengthened VAWA to expand protections for women from domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking to include additional services for tribal members, transgender, and underserved communities. More funding will go to rape prevention and education efforts, as well as training for law enforcement and the judicial system.

The original 1994 version of VAWA, authored by then-Senator Joseph R. Biden, was the first federal legislation acknowledging domestic violence and sexual assault as crimes. It provided federal resources to fund and promote community-coordinated responses to combating violence against women.

The Act comes up for renewal every five years, and during that time NOW activists and allies work to build on the existing protections and programs that VAWA created, and also to expand and enhance protections to make sure that all communities are included, particularly Black, Indigenous, Communities of color, undocumented women and the LGBTQIA+ community.

VAWA recipients deliver lifesaving direct services to victims and their families and hold offenders accountable through the criminal justice system. VAWA grantees serve hundreds of thousands of victims annually, including:

Providing critical services like hotlines and victim advocates,
Temporary housing for victims and their children, and
Legal assistance improves survivors’ access to and experience with court procedures like custody arrangements and protection orders.

The Office of Violence Against Women

The Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) assumes the day-to-day work of implementing VAWA, including implementing formula grant programs and discretionary grant programs. These programs fund victim services, legal assistance, law enforcement, prosecution services, and court practices. They also provide training and technical assistance to those working in the field.

VAWA addresses domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking through the development of coordinated community care among law enforcement, prosecutors, victim services, and attorneys. Among other provisions, VAWA:

Makes domestic violence a federal crime when state lines are crossed.

Provides grants to states for programs that prevent violence against women or provide services for victims of violence.
Provides support for work with tribes and tribal organizations to end domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking against Native American women.
Doubles federal penalties for repeat sex offenders.¹⁹

Since the passage of VAWA in 1994, every state has enacted laws making stalking a crime and each state strengthened criminal rape statutes.

Take a look at the work that NOW has done over the years:

NOW and VAWA – 1973 to Today

“I think there is a socialization that goes where violence becomes acceptable. You have to change that and say, ‘No, that’s not acceptable, rape is not acceptable and neither is any form of violence against women. We must not be ambiguous about violence. The greatest war is fought inside our own hearts, a war of anger and resentment and greed. So we start within ourselves and then with our families and our communities.”
– Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate

Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand.

Why is VAWA Important to Women?

On average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States, totaling more than 12 million people over the course of a year.

And in just one day more than 67,000 victims of domestic violence sought services from domestic violence programs and shelters in the U.S. and its territories.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed like never before how domestic violence impacts women’s day to day lives. With quarantine levels high, hospitals across the country saw a surge in emergency care cases resulting from intimate partner violence (IPV).

1 in 4 women are victims of intimate partner violence, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
It is estimated that 37.5 percent of Native women have experienced IPV in their lifetime, with 29.1 percent of Black women, 23.4 percent of Latinas, and 41-60 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander women reporting the same. Black and Native women are at the greatest risk for IPV related homicide.

There are 438 gun-related domestic violence fatalities per year, 10 million people per year are physically abused by an intimate partner, 20,000 calls each day are made to domestic violence hotlines, and 20 percent of women in the United States have been raped. Source: National Coalition to End Domestic Violence.
Between VAWA’s implementation in 1994 and 2011, serious victimization by an intimate partner declined by 72%.

Reauthorization

The most recent VAWA reauthorization includes numerous reforms that help advocates to provide services to victims of violence and enhance prevention efforts. The reauthorization:

Enhances the definition of domestic violence, recognizing verbal, psychological, economic, and technological abuse.

Defines restorative justice and creates a new community-based program to support training and programs to provide non-carceral accountability for survivors.

Carries provisions responsive to incarcerated women

Provides funds for community-specific services for LGBTQIA+ victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.

Increases funding authorization across underserved populations.

Mandates a study on barriers to survivors’ economic access.

Provides tools to ensure adjudicated abusers who are prohibited from possessing firearms do not acquire new ones.

Expands legal assistance access.

Expands prevention programs on college campuses, including work with campus health centers.

Creates a pilot project to allow some Alaska Native Villages to exercise special criminal jurisdiction over certain crimes.

Enhances implementation, compliance, and enforcement of VAWA’s housing protections.

History

Follow the links below to the extensive work that NOW has done over many years supporting VAWA and keeping women safe.

What can you do?

Follow this link to specific ways you can take action in supporting VAWA.

Title IX – NOW’s Detailed History to Today

Follow this link to detailed actions and history of NOW’s involvement in supporting Title IX.

Resources

National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-7233, https://www.thehotline.org/

For any victims and survivors who need support, the NDVH is for there you, 24/7. Call 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-799-7233 for TTY, or if you’re unable to speak safely, you can log onto thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 22522.

En Español: Línea directa nacional de violencia doméstica, 1-800-799-7233, https://www.thehotline.org/ para cualquier víctima y sobreviviente que necesite apoyo, se puede comunicar 24 horas del día. Llame al 1-800-799-7233 o al 1-800-799-7233 para TTY, o si no puede hablar de manera segura, puede iniciar sesión en thehotline.org o enviar la palabra LOVEIS por mensaje de texto al 22522.

Para información en español, visita la página “En Español.

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

Three Sister Collective (from Listening Session)

Sovereign Bodies Institute

Many states have their own domestic violence and sexual assault hotlines with helpful information offered in a number of languages. You can reach their websites by entering the name of your state + domestic violence hotline or sexual assault hotline. Guidance to law enforcement assistance, shelters, counseling and other important services are provided.