October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month–a time to redouble our efforts in ending violence as a necessary step to ending homelessness.
So it was appropriate, although somewhat overdue, that the U.S. Senate voted this month to pass reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
The Senate version is slightly different than the version passed by the House in late September and the differences will be worked out in conference committee.
This month also marks the third anniversary of the tragic plane crash that took the lives of Paul and Sheila Wellstone and their daughter and friends.
The Wellstones were passionate about ending violence against women and children; together they worked with advocates and survivors to bring sweeping changes to federal laws. In 1994, they championed the very first Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)–landmark federal legislation that used a community-based approach to keep people safe from violence in their homes. VAWA says that crimes against women and children will not be tolerated in our communities and offers innovative tools to protect survivors and end domestic violence.
Senator Joe Biden, one of the authors of the legislation recently said: “We broke tremendous ground in 1994. We wrote new domestic violence laws and distributed over $3.8 billion to states and towns to train and support police, lawyers, judges, nurses, shelter directors and advocates to end domestic violence and sexual assault. As a result, we’ve seen an almost 50 percent drop in domestic violence over the last decade; while the numbers show we are moving in the right direction, the problem of domestic violence continues to damage our communities and we must do more.”
Like the original program, VAWA 2005 steers federal money to local governments and non-profit organizations that play a direct role in reducing sexual assault, stalking, and domestic violence.
The House version of the bill focuses more on criminal and civil justice provisions, while the Senate bill contains several comprehensive provisions addressing prevention, crisis and advocacy services, the needs of communities of color, and housing protections.
Wilder Research Center says that nearly 1-in-3 women experiencing homelessness in Minnesota are without housing due, at least in part, to domestic violence.
VAWA 2005 would fund grant programs to facilitate collaboration between domestic violence organizations and housing providers; programs to combat family violence in public and assisted housing, including new requirements that domestic violence victims may not be evicted or cut off from voucher services because of the violence; and enhancements to transitional housing resources.
Watch for action alert updates as the two versions of the bill get sorted out in conference.