Violence Against Women Act of 1994: The Federal Commitment to Ending Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Stalking, and Gender-Based Crimes of Violence (From Sourcebook on Violence Against Women, P 279-301, 2001, Claire M. Renzetti, Jeffrey L. Edleson, and Raquel K. Bergen, eds. -- See NCJ-201429)

• NCJ Number: 201444
• Author(s): Roberta L. Valente; Barbara J. Hart; Seema Zeya; Mary Malefyt
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 23 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter explains the basic tenets of the Federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994, along with how specific sections of the Act provide relief to women victims in several areas of Federal law.

Abstract

Federal attention to violence against women was occasioned by the recognition that State laws were uneven in the provision of protection orders for women who were being abused by their partners, such that women in States with weak protection-order statutes did not have access to the same protection as victims in other States. Also, in many jurisdictions, judges failed to invoke or enforce their State protection-order laws, because they still made judgments based on the historically subordinate view of women. Victim advocates persuaded Congress to enact legislation that would rectify the inconsistencies and interstate gaps in State laws pertinent to violence against women. In addition, they asked Congress to provide funding to ensure that police, prosecutors, and courts would be trained to respond appropriately to domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The VAWA is a group of individually conceived legislative parts that were joined to create a package of Federal laws and grant programs that address domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The five sections that have the potential for having the greatest impact on the handling of crimes of violence against women are the full faith and credit provisions, the interstate crimes of domestic violence, the battered immigrant women provisions, the gun control provision, and the grant programs. Each of these five sections of the VAWA is explained. The enactment and implementation of the VAWA has led to radical change on the State, tribal, and territorial levels, as grant monies and technical assistance have shaped the attitudes of professionals who come into daily contact with female victims of violence. The enforcement and prosecution of the new Federal crimes created by the VAWA have also caused a dramatic shift in how these crimes are handled on the State level. The VAWA has defined new national standards and expectations for community responses to domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. 2 notes and 30 references