Vital VAWA efforts funded

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was set to expire in the fall of 2005, but was renewed in December. Funding was increased for efforts aimed at ending domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.

Successful and vital programs have been funded expanding on 10 years of progress to further the safety and stability of the lives of survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.

Law enforcement, victim service providers, community leaders along with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking evaluated VAWA and recommended the changes necessary for VAWA 2005 that effectively and thoroughly respond to the epidemic of violence against women in our nation.

CRITICAL PROGRAMS:

VAWA 2005 enhances core programs and policies in the criminal justice and legal systems reaffirming the commitment to reform systems that affect adult and youth victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.

The reauthorization of the act provides practical solutions for improving the response of the criminal justice and legal systems by expanding funding for local groups working with underserved communities, strengthening the criminal justice response to sexual assault, developing standards for protecting the confidentiality of victims served by VAWA programs, enhancing collaboration between victim service organizations and civil legal assistance providers, and enhancing provisions to fully enforce protective orders across state lines.

HOUSING:

Domestic violence is one of the primary causes of homelessness. Survivors and advocates consistently rate housing as a top priority and nearly 92% of homeless women have been physically or sexually assaulted.

To address the housing problem, the act provides a comprehensive approach including expanding transitional housing options, protecting the safety and confidentiality of homeless victims receiving services. Under the reauthorization of the act, victims can access the criminal justice system without jeopardizing or fearing they are jeopardizing their current or future housing. Permanent housing solutions that help develop communities and build collaborations between service providers, government agencies and housing developers are written into the act.

PREVENTION:

The reauthorization addresses prevention by intervening early with children who have witnessed domestic violence, supporting young families at risk for violence, and changing social norms through targeted interventions with children and teens.

CHILDREN, YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS:

VAWA 2005 provides a comprehensive approach for assisting children, teens and young adults who have violence in their lives. VAWA 2005 includes initiatives such as bringing communities together, providing cross training and collaboration to address the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child abuse, assisting colleges and universities in creating services and policies to address violence on campus, providing teens and young adults with appropriate services, ensuring access to court systems, and preventing abuse during child visitation.

NEW SERVICES:

VAWA 2005 includes the reauthorization of critical programs and the development of new services that respond to evolving community needs. Solution-based remedies addressing the concerns of victims generally, the disabled, elderly, Native, legal immigrant, ethnic minority victims and victims living in rural areas.

INDIAN NATIONS AND NATIVE WOMEN:

VAWA dramatically improves the response to violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women. It is estimated that one in three Native women will be raped. Six in 10 will be physically assaulted during their lifetimes. VAWA 2005 seriously addresses violence against Native women by strengthening the capacity of Indian nations to provide tribal-based services to women; providing solutions to current gaps in their ability to track perpetrators of violence against Indian women, and creating an administrative vehicle for addressing barriers preventing Indian nation from accessing life-saving funds.

HEALTH CARE:

Domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking contribute to a host of chronic health problems even after immediate signs of trauma have healed. A critical gap remains in the delivery of health care to domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. To improve the health care system’s response to violence against women and ensure proper treatment and help, VAWA 2005 provides for the training and education of health care providers and funds federal health programs to improve their services to victims.

ECONOMIC SECURITY:

Survivors identify economic independence as one of the most important factors in determining whether they will be able to escape a violent relationship or address the aftermath of a sexual assault. But all too often, victims risk losing their jobs when they take needed time off from work to go to court, heal from injuries, or take other steps to increase their safety. Provisions in VAWA 2005 gives victims reasonable unpaid leave from work to take steps to address the violence.

IMMIGRANT VICTIMS:

VAWA 1994 and 2000 recognized the special circumstances that can apply to non-citizen survivors of domestic violence and provided avenues for battered spouses and children to leave their abusive families without jeopardizing their immigration status. VAWA 2005 makes technical corrections to existing immigration law, resolving inconsistencies in the eligibility for immigrant victims.

MILITARY ISSUES:

The victims of intimate partner violence associated with Armed Forces are particularly vulnerable due to isolation, mobile residency, financial insecurity, and fear of adverse career consequences and impact, with resultant severe underreporting of incidents and the failure to access services, care and treatment.

The remedy VAWA 2005 should include are provisions to establish a commission of appointed military leaders and civilian experts to ensure the implementation of recommendations from past and present task forces on domestic violence and sexual assault. It should ensure collaboration between civilian authorities and military installations; confidential services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault; research, standardized data collection and evaluation, coordination with national hotlines and increased public education efforts; availability of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners at military hospitals; and continued development of the Victim Advocacy Program.

Domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking are pervasive crimes directly affecting one in four women and touching the lives of everyone in the community.