Violence Against Women Policy Trends Report 19

July 5, 2001

David M. Heger
National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center
University of Missouri - St. Louis
Political Analyst

Federal

The tide of legislative activity in the nation's capital has ebbed in recent days, while members of Congress take the week off to observe Independence Day. Before jetting back to their home districts, panelists of the House Judiciary Committee voted to attach the Violence Against Women Office Act to the Justice Department authorization bill (H.R. 2215). Women's advocates cheered the move because it substantially increases the chances of passage for legislation permanently establishing the Violence Against Women Office within Justice. The office, which administers state and local grants to improve the response of the criminal justice system to violent acts against women, is currently at risk because it is not protected by statute.

With federal lawmakers ready to move full speed ahead with the appropriations process, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) reminds us in its Legislative Update that President Bush's requests for violence against women program funding under the Department of Health and Human Services falls short of what Congress authorized last year. The President's recommendation for spending on rape prevention and education programs is a little more than half of what was authorized under the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 (VAWA 2000). The White House budget request for battered women's shelters equals last year's Congressional appropriation, but misses VAWA 2000 targets.

A recent NCADV survey indicated that transitional housing for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking was the top policy priority of service providers across the nation. Last year, Congress provided zero funding for a transitional housing program established by the VAWA 2000. President Bush's budget asks Congress to continue to leave the program's coffers empty in fiscal year 2002. To fill this gap between need and policy, Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) plans to introduce the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victims' Housing Act. The legislation would add $50 million in transitional housing funding to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

A report released recently by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contains several insights relating to violence against women. About half of the nation's reported attacks that caused injury over a six-year time period were committed by an intimate partner, according to Injuries from Violent Crime, 1992-1998. The study also showed that women were more likely to be attacked and injured by someone they knew than a stranger. The report is based on statistics from the National Crime Victimization Survey and the National Center for Health Statistics.

State

With only a handful of legislatures still active, much of the policy news coming out of the states these days relates to post-session matters. Because the South Carolina Legislature failed to address the mandatory prosecution of batterers this year, State Attorney General Charlie Condon recently took the matter into his own hands and issued a directive prohibiting prosecutors from dropping domestic violence cases under most circumstances. A new Utah law that will soon take effect removes a requirement that subjects involved in an order of protection must be living together. Advocates of victims of dating violence and all types of stalking worked vigorously with state legislators and law enforcement to realize the proposal's enactment this year.

Active legislatures continue to give consideration to measures relating to violence against women. Before adjourning for a long summer recess, the Ohio Legislature gave final approval to the creation of a controversial juvenile sex offender registry. New Jersey recently made information from its registry of adult sex offenders available on the Internet, joining 30 other states that have on-line registries. Additionally, the State Senate approved mandatory fines on domestic violence offenders to pay for services for battered women such as shelters and legal advocacy. Massachusetts Acting Governor Jane Swift (R) has proposed a bill to bar courts from applying a 160-year-old law -- known as accord and satisfaction -- that allows abusers to financially compensate their victims rather than face time in jail.