The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is expected to come up for reauthorization in the Senate next week. (We previously wrote about this bill back in January.) The protections the reauthorized bill would offer for all women, regardless of their circumstances, are crucial. VAWA establishes a comprehensive network of cost-effective standards that keeps women safe, holds perpetrators accountable, and saves money on would-be medical costs and legal expenses.
Although the bill (originally sponsored by Vice-President Biden when he was in the Senate) has been reauthorized twice before, this is the first time VAWA has not received any bipartisan support. When the safety of women across the country is at stake, Congress must set aside partisan bickering and pass a fully-funded reauthorization of VAWA. As Vice President Biden recently stated when discussing a world without VAWA, “…imagine now, the message it sends if it is not reauthorized. Just ask what message it would send to every one of our daughters, every woman imprisoned in their home.”
