Bipartisan group of senators announces deal on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act
was the primary author of the legislation. The act aims to support survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking using federal grants. The reauthorization would expand upon those measures.
Durbin said they would introduce the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2022 to “update and strengthen the law to ensure that it can meet the current needs of survivors, increase prevention, and improve the response to violence.” The bill would reauthorize the act through 2027.
Democrats’ Violence Against Women Act pressures women to negotiate with abusers
Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said the reauthorization would “provide critical resources to support survivors of domestic violence” and “provide additional tools to assist law enforcement in responding to investigating and prosecuting these heinous crimes.”
Murkowski, who worked on the tribal portion of the bill, said it would further protect Native women on tribal land by improving access to information and care. The legislation requires renewal every five years, but expired in February 2019. The act was previously reauthorized in 2000, 2005, and 2013. Despite the expiration, Congress still funds the act’s grant programs. Last year, the House passed another reauthorization act, but it did not make it through the Senate.
Feinstein said that nine Republican and nine Democrats support the bill. Durbin later added “we’re perilously close to 60 votes.”
Actress Angelina Jolie, who has advocated for the reauthorization, said at the announcement “the reason that many people struggle to leave abusive situations is that they’ve been made to feel worthless. When there is silence from a Congress too busy to renew the Violence Against Women Act for a decade, it reinforces that sense of worthlessness.”
“This is one of the most important votes you will cast this year in the Senate,” she said.