Federal Laws Related to Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence

Federal Laws Related to Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence

Federal Laws Related to Intimate Partner and Sexual

Violence

There are two significant federal laws that address violence against women. The Family Violence

Prevention and Services Act was first authorized in 1984. It was most recently authorized through

2015 (Public Law [PL] 111-320 42 U.S.C. 10401, et seq.). It is the primary federal funding source for

domestic violence shelters and service programs in the United States. It also funds the work of state

coalitions on domestic violence, community-based violence prevention efforts, and a number of

smaller training and assistance programs.

The Violence against Women Act (VAWA) was first authorized in 1994 (Title IV, sec. 40001-40703

of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, HR 3355, signed as PL 103-322). As

states began creating the protective order and criminal statutes discussed earlier, the limitations of

this patchwork of remedies became apparent. The VAWA was therefore created to address the gaps

in state laws; create federal laws against domestic violence, including protection for immigrant

women and enhanced gun control provisions; and fund a variety of violence-related training and

other local programs (Valente et al., 2009). The law originally included a provision making crime

motivated by gender a civil rights offense. This provision was, however, found unconstitutional in

2000 (Brzonkala v. Morrison, 2000).

The VAWA represented a significant turning point in public policy related to violence against

women. Previously, women who received a protective order might find that violations that

occurred in other states could not be enforced. The full faith and credit provision of the VAWA

requires that protective orders be recognized and enforced across jurisdictional, state, and tribal

boundaries within the United States. Likewise, by creating federal crimes of domestic violence and

stalking, criminal acts that cross jurisdictional boundaries can now be more easily charged and

prosecuted. Under the VAWA, it is illegal for individuals subject to certain types of protective

orders or convicted of even misdemeanor domestic violence offenses to possess a firearm. Given

that risk of intimate partner homicide increases dramatically when firearms are available to the

assailant, this represents an important safeguard for women (Campbell et al., 2003). The VAWA

addressed the significant hardships faced by both legal and illegal immigrant women experiencing

abuse from their partners. The VAWA additionally funds a wide range of victim advocacy and

training programs, with the goal of ensuring that victims of violence receive consistent, competent

services in all communities.

Each subsequent renewal of the VAWA has strengthened these provisions. The latest renewal in

2013 expanded its definitions to explicitly include gay, lesbian, and transgender victims; expanded

the safeguards available to women assaulted in tribal territories; expanded housing provisions to

prohibit discrimination against victims of IPV in all forms of subsidized public housing;

strengthened protections for immigrant women; and, for the first time, specifically addressed

violence on college campuses (Violence against Women Act, 2013).

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