The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) expired last Friday after the House and Senate’s failure to pass a federal budget led to a partial government shutdown. While the act was passed into law in 1994 and traditionally reinstated with bipartisan support, funding laid within the budget, which Donald Trump has halted the progress of until his demand for $5.7 billion border wall is met.
According to the Department of Justice, VAWA strives to both recognize the impact of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking on the lives of women and young girls and develop combative programs aimed at their termination. Funding for supportive programs is distributed to local, state and tribal governments, as well as schools and non-profit organizations. The Office on Violence Against Women, which falls under VAWA, has 25 grant programs available, some of which include grants to support families in the justice system, culturally specific sexual assault programs, training to end violence against women with disabilities and more.
By failing to pass a budget, many of these programs will not receive the funding necessary to continue operating. According to HuffPost, the House and Senate passed a short-term budget that would fund VAWA programs through February 8, 2019, but future payments are being held in limbo during the shutdown despite the legislation’s impending expiration date.
“The Violence Against Women Act – which supports critical programs to help victims of sexual assault, domestic abuse, and stalking – expired at midnight,” Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted on December 22. “We could have funded it, but [Donald Trump] would rather shut down the government for a wall that doesn’t make us any safer.”
Other leaders concurred with Senator Warren’s words of frustration, including Senator Kamala Harris, who stressed the act’s importance by instructing followers not to let the expiration "go unnoticed."
Don’t let this go unnoticed: the Violence Against Women Act, which helps survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault, expired with the government shutdown. It’s deeply concerning.— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 23, 2018
The previous fight to reauthorize VAWA occurred earlier this year when Democrats managed to extend its previous expiration date from December 7 to December 21. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi led the charge, writing a public letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, calling out Republicans for their lack of support concerning VAWA’s future.
“As Members of Congress, it is our responsibility to ensure that every woman, in every part of our society, can live free from violence,” Pelosi wrote. “Yet, the continued refusal over many years of House Republicans to extend VAWA’s critical protections to include vulnerable communities, particularly Native American, immigrant and LGBTQ communities, represents a blatant dereliction of that duty.”
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