Joe Biden, former Vice President of the United States wrote the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) twenty-five years ago when he was still a senator. The law helped domestic violence victims get justice. Since then, the bill has been renewed three times (2000, 2005, 2013). According to Joe Biden, “You can’t talk human rights without talking about the rights of women on this planet. To be free from violence and to be free from fear.”

The VAWA has to be reauthorized every five years and five hundred days ago, the House passed a bipartisan reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) which is yet to be voted on.

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What The Violence Against Women Act entails

The original law improves the abilities of law enforcement to persecute sexual crimes. It increases the penalty for stalking and enforces protection for women who want protection from estranged spouses across states. It also creates grant programs seeking to address violence against women from various angles. This includes grants for law enforcement, public and private service providers.

Quoting verbatim from the bill, “Since July 1992, when the National Domestic Violence Hotline was disconnected due to lack of funding – even if it was getting 10,000 calls per month – the country has been without a central resource for calls regarding domestic violence. Title II responds to the need of women to be free from violence, whether it occurs on the streets or in the homes. Moreover, it recognizes that domestic violence is anything but domestic – it is not a private matter but a serious crime.

To protect women from abusive spouses or partners, Title II provides the following federal remedies:

• Creating the first federal penalties for crimes committed against spouses during interstate travel, and crimes committed by spouse abusers who cross state lines to continue their abuse.
• Requiring that the protection order issued by the court of one state, be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another state.

Title II provides incentives to encourage states to recognize that domestic violence is a crime that should be dealt with by law enforcement as a violation of law like any other. It:

• Authorizes $25 million for states that implement pro-arrest programs and policies in police departments and improve case tracking to promote the arrest of abusive spouses.
• For states suffering from strain in their system because of increased arrests, the bill provides additional assistance to centralize and systematize the process.
• More than triple existing levels of funding for battered women shelters.”

Domestic Violence In The USA

Nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by a spouse or an intimate partner in the USA. These numbers add up to more than 10 million women and men yearly. As women are more likely to suffer partner abuse, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe physical violence from their partner. This also includes stalking, physical and emotional abuse which causes injury, fearfulness, PTSD, and sexually transmitted diseases.

Pushing and shoving are also under the banner of domestic violence even though they do not leave behind any physical evidence. One out of ten women have been raped by an intimate partner in the United States. Law enforcement has been said to receive thousands of calls on domestic violence daily. One in five women have been raped in their lifetime. These numbers may be shocking but it is important to note that a lot more violence goes on than is reported.

There are many factors that could make a woman hide abuse but one of them is the belief that reporting is either too risky or a waste of time. This is the problem the Violence Against Women Act addresses.

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African Women And Women Of Color As Victims Of Domestic Violence

Women of color suffer significantly higher levels of domestic violence than their white counterparts. This could be due to the fact that their men grew up in cultures where beating up women was the norm. These women have also embraced a culture of shame and silence.

Patriarchy is rife in Africa. Men are made to think that they are naturally superior to women and are entitled to their respect and obedience. Black women are also viewed as property that should be “handled” and disciplined at will. Domestic violence is viewed as domestic/personal and in most instances, women do not get justice.

Women die from beatings and horrific acts such as burning with acid or hot liquid to lethal cuts from axes. Before they were killed, these women were victims who decided to remain in abuse because they thought society’s stigma would be unbearable or because they did not have enough resources to leave.

If the Violence Against Women Acts is passed into laws in various African countries, women might then begin to live their lives free of fear and safe from sudden deaths at the hands of persons who claim to love them.