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Laws on violence against women

• The Violence Against Women Act
• The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act
• More information on laws on violence against women

The U.S. Congress has passed two main laws related to violence against women, the Violence Against Women Act and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act.

The Violence Against Women Act

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was the first major law to help government agencies and victim advocates work together to fight domestic violence, sexual assault, and other types of violence against women. It created new punishments for certain crimes and started programs to prevent violence and help victims. Over the years, the law has been expanded to provide more programs and services. Currently, some included items are:

• Violence prevention programs in communities
• Protections for victims who are evicted from their homes because of events related to domestic violence or stalking
• Funding for victim assistance services like rape crisis centers and hotlines
• Programs to meet the needs of immigrant women and women of different races or ethnicities
• Programs and services for victims with disabilities
• Legal aid for survivors of violence
• Services for children and teens

The National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women works to help promote the goals and vision of VAWA. The committee is a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Examples of the committee's efforts include the Community Checklist initiative to make sure each community has domestic violence programs and the Toolkit to End Violence Against Women, which has chapters for specific audiences.

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The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) provides the main federal funding to help victims of domestic violence and their dependents (such as children). Programs funded through FVPSA provide shelter and related help. They also offer violence prevention activities and try to improve how service agencies work together in communities. FVPSA works through a few main ways:

• Formula Grants. This money helps states, territories, and tribes create and support programs that work to help victims and prevent family violence. The amount of money is determined by a formula based partly on population. The states, territories, and tribes distribute the money to thousands of domestic violence shelters and programs.
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline. This is a 24-hour, confidential, toll-free hotline. Hotline staff connect the caller to a local service provider. Trained advocates provide support, information, referrals, safety planning, and crisis intervention in more than 170 languages to hundreds of thousands of domestic violence victims each year.
• The Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancements and Leadership Through Alliances (DELTA) Program. Like many public health problems, intimate partner violence is not simply an individual problem — it is a community problem. DELTA supports local programs that teach people ways to prevent violence.

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More information on laws on violence against women

Explore other publications and websites

• Family Violence Prevention and Services Program — Find out how the funding for the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act is being spent to support emergency shelter and related assistance for survivors of domestic violence.
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/fysb/content/docs/FVPSA_program_summary.pdf
• Stalking Laws (Copyright © National Center for Victims of Crime) — Use this website to find information about criminal stalking laws by state, civil stalking laws by state, federal laws, and penalties.
  http://www.ncvc.org/src/main.aspx?dbID=DB_All_Legislation188
• State Law Report Cards (Copyright © Break the Cycle) — Use this interactive map to see how your state ranks in supporting survivors of dating violence. You can also find information on each state’s definition of abuse, relief available, and access to orders of protection for teens.
  http://www.breakthecycle.org/content/teen-dating-violence-state-law-report-cards
• VictimLaw (Copyright © National Center for Victims of Crime) — This website has an online database of victims' rights laws that you can search to find out more about how laws protect you.
  http://www.victimlaw.info
• Violence Against Women: Federal Legislation and Regulations — This resource links to information on many federal laws and regulations applicable to violence against women.
  http://www.usdoj.gov/ovw/regulations.htm
• Violence Prevention — This website provides information on the impact of violence, risk factors for violence, and effective prevention tips. It also addresses intimate partner, sexual, and youth violence.
  http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/index.html

Connect with other organizations

• Family Violence Prevention and Services Program, HHS, ACF
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/fysb/content/programs/fv.htm
• National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)
  https://www.ncjrs.gov/
• Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice
  http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/
• Office on Violence Against Women, DOJ
  http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/
• WomensLaw.org
  http://www.womenslaw.org/

Content last updated May 18, 2011.

Resources last updated May 18, 2011.

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