Violence Against Women Act: History and Federal Funding

Publication Date: August 2008

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Social conditions

Type:

Abstract:

On October 28, 2000, President Clinton signed into law the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2000 as Division B of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386, H.R. 3244). VAWA 2000 reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act through FY2005, set new funding levels, and added new programs. The original Violence Against Women Act, enacted as Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (P.L. 103-322, H.R. 3355), became law in 1994.

For FY2006, President Bush requests $515 million for VAWA programs, of which $386 million is for programs administered by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and $129 million for programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

On December 8, 2004, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (P.L. 108447, H.R. 4818) was enacted, which provided $387.28 million in FY2005 funding for violence against women programs administered by DOJ and $129.9 million for those programs administered by HHS. The act mandated a reduction of 0.80% for some FY2005 discretionary appropriations, which included VAWA funding. In addition, there was a 0.54% cut in Commerce-Justice-State discretionary appropriations for FY2005 that affected funding for VAWA programs administered by DOJ.

VAWA established within DOJ and HHS a number of discretionary grant programs for state, local, and Indian tribal governments. DOJ administers VAWA grants designed to aid law enforcement officers and prosecutors, encourage arrest policies, stem domestic violence and child abuse, establish and operate training programs for victim advocates and counselors, and train probation and parole officers who work with released sex offenders. Under HHS, grants include funds for battered women's shelters, rape prevention and education, reduction of sexual abuse of runaway and homeless street youth, and community programs on domestic violence. The act provided for several studies of violent crimes against women as well as a number of changes in federal criminal law relating to interstate stalking, intrastate domestic abuse, federal sex offense cases, the rules of evidence regarding use of a victim's past sexual behavior, and HIV testing in rape cases.

VAWA 2000 reauthorized most of the original act's programs and created new grant programs to prevent sexual assaults on campuses, assist victims of violence with civil legal concerns, create transitional housing for victims of domestic abuse, and protect elderly and disabled victims of domestic violence. VAWA 2000, also, created a program for safe custody exchange for families of domestic violence.

Most recently, Congress passed the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-36), and the PROTECT Act (P.L. 108-21), which, among other provisions, authorized funding of HHS and DOJ transitional housing assistance programs for victims of domestic violence, respectively.