House set to vote to reauthorize Violence Against Women Act

Washington — The House will vote Wednesday on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the landmark 1994 law that strengthened domestic violence protections for women. The measure, which expired two years ago, is expected to pass in the House, but may hit a roadblock in the evenly divided Senate.

VAWA enshrines legal protections for women who have experienced domestic and sexual violence. It was initially passed in 1994, championed by then-Senator Joe Biden, and was updated and reauthorized in 2000, 2005 and 2013. The bill expired at the end of 2018 due to a government shutdown and was briefly renewed by a resolution reopening the government, but expired again in February 2019. Mr. Biden made reauthorizing VAWA a key campaign promise before he was elected. The current bill would expand victims services and reauthorize grant programs for the criminal justice response to domestic and sexual violence. It also includes provisions that would expand housing options for survivors, and end immunity for non-Native perpetrators of sexual violence on tribal lands.