NCJ Number
170677
Journal
Trial Volume: 33 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1997) Pages: 20-22,24-27
Date Published
1997
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Women are frequent victims of violent crimes, they are often victimized solely because they are women, and many violent attacks on women involve intimate partners.
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Justice estimates 4.5 million violent crimes are committed against women each year, 500,000 of which are rapes and other sexual assaults. Despite these staggering numbers, victims of gender-based violence rarely sue their attackers. A potentially valuable remedy for women, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), gives women the right to be free from violent crimes motivated by gender and creates a civil cause of action under Federal law that may be used to remedy abuse by an intimate against a female or a male partner and to remedy rape and sexual assault, sexual harassment at work, child sexual abuse, and gay bashing. As a Federal statute, the VAWA requires proof an alleged crime was motivated by gender; plaintiffs may be able to introduce dramatic evidence, for example, evidence of a defendant's prior bad acts, that would be inadmissible in actions brought under State law. To prove a case under the VAWA, a plaintiff must show the defendant committed a crime of violence motivated by gender. Attorneys who file a VAWA claim should expect a constitutional challenge to the act's civil rights provision on the grounds that Congress exceeded its authority under the Commerce Clause and the 14th amendment. Attorneys should not be dissuaded from bringing VAWA cases, however, by the prospect of having to litigate constitutional issues. Procedures attorneys should follow in filing claims and in litigating domestic relations proceedings are described. 39 notes and 1 photograph