A modernized version of legislation to stop violence against women and stop domestic abuse is now before the U.S. Senate, with enhanced steps to prevent domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking, and improve essential support services.
The Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 was introduced on Thursday, Feb. 10, by Senators Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, with Dianne Feinstein, D-California, Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Illinois.
Murkowski noted earlier, as the legislation was being constructed, that there is an ongoing public safety crisis in rural Alaska and across Indian country, “but we have an opportunity in this Congress to work together, across the aisle, to find solutions and restore justice,” she said. “We must let our women, children and families who have been affected by devastating violence know — you are heard and we stand with you.”
The reauthorization bill would include programs that improve evidence collection methods for victims of domestic violence, including technology that better detects bruising across skin tones. The bill would allow grant funds to be used to develop and implement alternative methods for reducing crime in communities by revising policies or programs that impose a penalty on a domestic violence victim that results from a law enforcement response to a request for assistance by the victim.
The bill would also make grants available for legal assistance to victims of domestic violence, including services of a licensed attorney in tribal court, or a person with demonstrated expertise in providing legal assistance to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking. That section of the bill authorizes appropriations of $60 million per fiscal year through 2027.
