A Review of the Effects of the Violence Against Women Act on Law Enforcement

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-83
Author(s):  
Wesley G. Jennings ◽  
Ráchael A. Powers ◽  
Nicholas M. Perez
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Crime Reduction ◽  
Victim Advocacy ◽  
Violence Against Women Act ◽  
Victim Services ◽  
Police Responses ◽  
Victim Reporting ◽  
And Training

One of the goals of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was to improve law enforcement responses to sexual and domestic violence by providing funding to expand prevention, enhance investigations, and increase victim services. Since VAWA’s enactment, police responses to these crimes have evolved, including officer responses to victims and offenders, and various agency operations. This article highlights some noteworthy changes in law enforcement related to facilitating victim reporting, enhancing victim advocacy and services, crime reduction and investigative tools, supplementing personnel and training, and encouraging multiagency collaborations as a result of VAWA.

Victim Services

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen S. Knox
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Child Abuse ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Crisis Intervention ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Victim Services ◽  
Specialized Education ◽  
And Training

Social workers provide services for crime victims and their families in a variety of settings, including law enforcement, the court systems, corrections, and parole or probation. This entry presents a historical overview of the types of victim-services programs and models that have been developed since the beginning of the 20th century. Social-work roles and interventions in victim-services programs are discussed. The need for specialized education and training in crisis intervention, domestic violence, and child abuse is addressed, along with recent challenges and innovations in the field of victim services.

Evaluation of Victim Advocacy Services Funded by the Violence Against Women Act in Urban Ohio, 1999

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Bohmer ◽  
Denise E. Bronson ◽  
Helen Hartnett ◽  
Jennifer Brandt ◽  
Kristen S. Kania
Keyword(s):  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Victim Advocacy ◽  
Violence Against Women Act

Amending the Violence Against Women Act

2020 ◽  
pp. 112-128
Author(s):  
Ray Brescia
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
Violence Against Women Act ◽  
The Social ◽  
Change Matrix ◽  
Grassroots Advocacy

This chapter studies the effort to reauthorize and expand the reach of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). In September of 1994, after years of grassroots advocacy, U.S. Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and President Clinton signed it into law. VAWA provides federal funding for enhanced law enforcement, social services, and legal services for victims of domestic violence. The legislation was originally enacted with a sunset provision that required that Congress reauthorize it after five years, a feature that was repeated in subsequent reauthorization bills. When the law was due for reauthorization in 2011, however, the process did not go as smoothly as it had before. Instead, although VAWA had bipartisan support, advocates wanted to strengthen it with provisions they saw as essential to keeping all survivors of domestic violence safe. These additional protections were met with resistance in Congress. In advance of the 2012 presidential election, advocates sought to amend the legislation in ways that would strengthen the protections offered to Native Americans, undocumented immigrants, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) communities. In the last reauthorization battle, the ability of advocates to harness the medium, their networks, and their message provides a contemporary example of the social change matrix at work in the age of social media.

scholarly journals The Menace of Domestic Violence: Improving the Lives of Women in Nigeria

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-198
Author(s):  
Olaitan O Adeyemo ◽  
Ifeoluwayimika Bamidele
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Family Courts ◽  
Male Sex ◽  
Forms Of Violence ◽  
Abuse Of Women

The scourge of domestic violence as well as other forms of violence against women has eaten deep into the fabric of our society creating a lopsided gender balance with the female gender being the greatest victim. Violence has taken different forms ranging from sexual to physical and psychological as well as other forms. This degrades the humanity of the woman in our society. Abusive partners and perpetrators base their actions on superior nature of the male sex, religion, law, custom, economic situation, family pressure, and their behavioural pattern. It is believed that lack of a legal framework universally enforced as well as lack of trained law enforcement officers promotes the violence of women in Nigeria. A proactive legal framework, establishment of confidential and well equipped family courts, training of law enforcement officers, shelters and counselling centres can reduce the abuse of women in Nigeria and across the globe. The physical, sociological and psychological effect of violence against women is unquantifiable. To achieve a fair and balanced society, women must be valued, respected and supported and not battered either by stick or word of mouth.

Reimagining VAWA: Why Criminalization Is a Failed Policy and What a Non-Carceral VAWA Could Look Like

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-101
Author(s):  
Leigh Goodmark
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Women Of Color ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Primary Response ◽  
Violence Against Women Act

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is the signature federal legislative accomplishment of the anti-violence movement and has ensured that criminalization is the primary response to intimate partner violence in the United States. But at the time of its passage, some anti-violence activists, particularly women of color, warned that criminalization would be problematic for a number of reasons, a caution that has borne fruit in the 25 years since VAWA’s passage. This article critiques the effectiveness of criminalization as anti-domestic violence policy and imagines what a non-carceral VAWA could look like.

scholarly journals Victim Empowerment, Safety, and Perpetrator Accountability Through Collaboration: A Crisis to Transformation Conceptual Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (14) ◽  
pp. 1678-1696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacquelyn W. White ◽  
Holly C. Sienkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Cultural Relevance ◽  
Community Readiness ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
Community Responses ◽  
Theory Analysis ◽  
Final Model ◽  
Violence Against Women Act ◽  
Victim Services ◽  
Best Fit

This article describes the development of the Victim Empowerment, Safety, and Perpetrator Accountability through Collaboration (VESPAC) model based on a grounded theory analysis of congressionally mandated and permissible purpose areas for grants authorized by the Violence Against Women Act. These areas are reflective of ongoing and emerging needs of victims and agencies serving victims and are rooted in the expertise, insight, and concerns of those who work most closely with victims and perpetrators on a regular basis. Analysis resulted in five overarching and interconnected themes: Community Readiness, Victim Services, Justice Responses, Coordinated Community Responses, and Cultural Relevance. The final model emphasizes the centrality of coordinated community responses to ensure that the remaining components of the model work in tandem across time to achieve victim safety and perpetrator accountability in a culturally appropriate way. The model also may help agencies, coalitions, and communities think “big” and consider more strategically about where their strengths best fit in the vast scope of victim needs necessary to meet safety goals and where they might benefit most from the expertise of partners.

scholarly journals Legal Protection of Women as Victim of Domestic Violence

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-258
Author(s):  
Fence M Wantu ◽  
Mohamad Taufiq Zulfikar Sarson
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Women Victims ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Criminal Investigation ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Service Unit ◽  
Library Research

This study aims to determine the extent of legal protection by the Women and Children Service Unit (PPA) of the Gorontalo City Resort Police Criminal Investigation Unit against women as victims of domestic violence and to find out what factors are obstacles to the efforts of the PPA Unit of the Criminal Investigation Unit Gorontalo Resort Police in tackling violence against women victims of Domestic Violence. Data collected through interviews and library research. Analysis of the data used is the data obtained will be analysed descriptively qualitatively describing the data obtained from field research (primary data), tested the truth then linked and analysed qualitatively with data obtained from library research (secondary). The results showed a form of legal protection by the PPA Unit of the Gorontalo Police Resort Criminal Investigation Unit against women as victims of domestic violence, namely preventive efforts by holding legal counselling in collaboration with the local government and further optimizing the performance of the Gorontalo City Resort Police Especially the PPA unit, repressive efforts that are in accordance with the rules of the Domestic Violence Protection Act. What factors hinder the efforts of the PPA Unit of the Gorontalo District Police Resort Criminal Investigation Unit in tackling violence against women victims of Domestic Violence, among others: Legal factors themselves, Law Enforcement Officers Factors, Factors or Facilities That Support Law Enforcement, Factors Society and Culture

Stop Abuse for Everyone: Interviews With Founders of a Pioneering Anti–Domestic Violence Nonprofit

Partner Abuse ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-474
Author(s):  
Jack Turteltaub
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Treatment Approach ◽  
Violence Against Women Act ◽  
National Debate ◽  
Feminist Theories ◽  
Model Treatment ◽  
Duluth Model

History and overview of Stop Abuse for Everyone (SAFE), a nonprofit developed in the 1990s initially to help males and other underserved victims of domestic violence. The article describes the original founder’s experience as a nonabusive male in a marriage with a violent female spouse and his recognition that his marriage did not fit ideological feminist theories or the Duluth model treatment approach to domestic violence, both of which emphasize male culpability for violence in intimate relationships. The article discusses the creation of a Web site and then the formation of the nonprofit. Four founders of SAFE are interviewed, and SAFE’s brochure program, speakers bureau, and state chapters are discussed. SAFE’s contribution to the national debate about the role of gender in domestic violence, involvement in the revision of the Violence Against Women Act, and efforts to develop a more nuanced, dynamic model of domestic violence in the context of various gender/sexual orientation configurations are reviewed.

The Politicization of Safety

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Stoever
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Domestic Abuse ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
Reproductive Justice ◽  
Violence Against Women Act ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Welfare Systems ◽  
And Gender

Domestic violence is commonly assumed to be a bipartisan, nonpolitical issue, with politicians welcoming headlines saying they are working against family violence. Nevertheless, the Violence Against Women Act expired for over 500 days between 2012 and 2013 due to disagreements between the U.S. Senate and House, demonstrating that legal protections for survivors of domestic abuse are both highly political and highly vulnerable. Racial and gender politics, the move toward criminalization, reproductive justice concerns, gun control debates, and other factors and political interests are increasingly shaping responses to domestic violence, demonstrating the necessity for a true understanding of the dynamic between politics, domestic violence, and the law. The Politicization of Safety will provide a critical historical perspective on domestic violence responses in the United States. It will grapple with the ways in which child welfare systems and civil and criminal justice responses intersect, and considers the different, overlapping ways in which survivors of domestic abuse are forced to cope with institutionalized discrimination, including arenas of race, gender, sexual orientation, and immigration status, not to mention cases of police-perpetrated domestic abuse.

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