US House of Representatives passes law to reauthorise Violence Against Women Act

 The legislation seeks to provide grants to state and local governments for programs addressing violence against women including domestic abuse, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.

The US House of Representatives on March 17, 2021 passed a legislation to reauthorise the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was originally introduced by President Joe Biden but lapsed in 2019.

The lawmakers in the US House voted largely along party lines 244-172 to approve the legislation. Twenty-nine Republicans joined the Democrats in voting in favour of the bill. 

The bill seeking reauthorisation of the Violence Against Women Act was reintroduced by Representatives Sheila Jackson Lee and Brian Fitzpatrick and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler. 

What is the law about?

•The legislation seeks to provide grants to state and local governments for programs addressing violence against women including domestic abuse, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.

•The law will close the so-called boyfriend loophole to prevent dating partners convicted of domestic violence or abuse from buying or owning guns.

•Representative Sheila Jackson Lee while introducing the legislation said, "Women cannot go back. Women cannot continue in an intimidated fashion to tragically be subject to men who violently attack them."

•The legislation was originally enacted in 1994 and it was renewed repeatedly in the decades that followed since till its last expiration in February 2019.

•In 2019, the Act did not pass through the Senate, which was controlled by Republicans at that time who objected to the gun control provision.

•President Biden, however, urged Congress to "come together in a bipartisan manner" to move the legislation quickly. He said that delay is not an option, especially when the pandemic and economic crisis have only further increased the risks of abuse and the barriers to safety for women in the United States.

Background

As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 44 percent of women in the US have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetimes, along with about 25 percent of men.

The legislation seeking renewable of the VAWA bill is among the several bills that the House of Representatives has been resending to the Senate in recent weeks now that they control both chambers of Congress.

The House passed a resolution earlier on March 17 to eliminate the deadline for ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment.