Current:Home > MyBiden marks 30th anniversary of passage of landmark Violence Against Women Act -ValueCore
Biden marks 30th anniversary of passage of landmark Violence Against Women Act
View
Date:2025-04-24 01:35:42
WASHINGTON (AP) — As part of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the landmark Violence Against Women Act, the White House on Thursday is set to announce new efforts to address online harassment and abuse, and to help ease housing issues that many survivors of domestic violence face when they are trying to escape abusers.
President Joe Biden wrote and championed the bill as a U.S. senator. It was the first comprehensive federal law that focused on addressing violence against women and sought to provide support for survivors and justice. It sought to shift the national narrative around domestic violence at the time; that it was a private matter best left alone.
The White House said that between 1993 and 2022, domestic violence rates dropped by 67% and the rate of rapes and sexual assaults declined by 56%, according to FBI statistics.
During a hearing on domestic violence in 1990, Biden told the committee that “for too long, we have ignored the right of women to be free from the fear of attack based on their gender. For too long, we have kept silent about the obvious.”
Biden spent years advocating for the law, moved by horrible stories of domestic violence. In 1994 it was passed with bipartisan support.
Biden is expected to speak on Thursday during a celebration marking the anniversary, where he’ll detail ongoing efforts to strengthen the law including the Justice Department is announcing more than $690 million in grant funding, including efforts to serve orders of protection electronically and strategies that seek to address online gender-based violence, a growing problem that law enforcement struggles to combat.
Federal agencies also sent out reminders on housing rights for survivors of domestic violence who live in federally funded homes, including that they can request emergency housing transfers.
Jen Klein, the White House gender policy adviser, said the measures are meant to keep pushing efforts to help survivors of domestic violence.
“While we have made tremendous progress since VAWA was signed into law in 1994, we also know that much work remains in the fight to prevent and end gender-based violence,” she said.
The law was reaffirmed in 2022, but it almost didn’t happen. The sticking point was a provision in the last proposal, passed by the House in April 2019, that would have prohibited persons previously convicted of misdemeanor stalking from possessing firearms.
Under current federal law, those convicted of domestic abuse can lose their guns if they are currently or formerly married to their victim, live with the victim, have a child together or are a victim’s parent or guardian. But the law doesn’t apply to stalkers and current or former dating partners. Advocates have long referred to it as the “boyfriend loophole.”
Expanding the restrictions drew fierce opposition from the National Rifle Association and Republicans in Congress, creating an impasse. Democrats backed down and did not include the provision.
That provision was later addressed in Biden’s bipartisan gun safety legislation signed by Congress later that year, and now prohibits people convicted of misdemeanor crimes in dating relationships from purchasing or possessing firearms for at least five years.
veryGood! (186)
Related
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- Marvin Harrison's Ohio State football career is over as star receiver enters NFL draft
- Lawsuit filed against Harvard, accusing it of violating the civil rights of Jewish students
- DeSantis interrupted by three protesters at campaign stop days before Iowa caucuses
- 'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
- US, British militaries launch massive retaliatory strike against Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen
- Lawmakers propose $7 billion in new funding for affordable internet program
- 'I just want to give them all a hug': Massachusetts Peloton group leaves servers $7,200 tip
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- Apple announces release date for Vision Pro: What it costs, how to buy and more
Ranking
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- Andrew Garfield Sparks Romance Rumors With Model Olivia Brower
- Bill Belichick couldn't win without Tom Brady, leaving one glaring blemish on his greatness
- From Finland, with love, Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen bring ‘Fallen Leaves’ to Hollywood
- South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
- Watch these humpback whales create a stunning Fibonacci spiral to capture prey
- St. Paul makes history with all-female city council, a rarity among large US cities
- Wisconsin Senate GOP leader says state-run medical marijuana dispensaries are a ‘nonstarter’
Recommendation
EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
US-led strikes on Yemeni rebels draw attention back to war raging in Arab world’s poorest nation
Longtime North Carolina appellate judge preparing to scale back work at the 4th US Circuit
Boat propeller gravely injures endangered whale calf, NOAA says
Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie return for an 'Encore,' reminisce about 'The Simple Life'
Is eye color surgery the new fad? Interest soars as doctors warn of permanent risks.
What to know about the abdication of Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II
Palestinian viewers are captivated and moved by case at UN’s top court accusing Israel of genocide