An Overview of Policies Mandated by the Violence Against Women Act and Reauthorizations

• In Event: NIJ-Day: Violence Against Women Act: Moving Towards Measurement and Evaluation of Gender-based Violence Legislation and Interventions

Abstract

The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 criminalized domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and changed how the justice system responded to these crimes. A number of policies were mandated at the federal level to prioritize the response to domestic violence, including the requirement for the U.S. Congress to reauthorize VAWA every five years. With each subsequent reauthorization, policies have been created and adapted to better respond to the needs of victims of intimate partner violence and other forms of gender-based violence. This presentation will provide a timeline of policies legislated by the original VAWA as well as its subsequent reauthorizations to date.

Author

• Rachel Davies, National Institute of Justice, AAAS Fellow