THE ISSUE: The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA or H.R. 1620) is urgently-needed legislation to protect abuse survivors and allocate funding for survivor services. VAWA strengthens the health care system’s response to domestic abuse and improve access to resources like housing for survivors while also expanding assistance to LGBTQIA+ individuals and communities of color. Beyond helping survivors, VAWA critically invests in prevention, ends impunity on tribal law enforcement officers, improves enforcement of court orders, and protects individuals from firearm homicides. VAWA would also importantly help survivors gain sustainable economic independence.

WHY IT MATTERS: Ending violence against women is one of NOW’s six core issues. NOW recognizes that violence against women is perpetuated through gender bias in the judicial system and systems of economic oppression and that we must address these deeply-seeded structural problems.

THE STATUS: In 2019, the House of Representatives passed (VAWA) which then stalled in the Senate where it was blocked by Republican Senate leadership. On March 8, 2021, a group of bipartisan lawmakers including Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) reintroduced VAWA with vital enhancements addressing the needs of survivors in underserved communities and communities of color. The bill is once again likely to face pushback from Republican lawmakers, especially in the Senate.
ACTION ALERT: Urge Congress to End Violence Against Women – Pass VAWA
retrieved from NOW.org May 3, 2021