Not too long after the decision was made to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, the House and Senate have developed a finalized bill to be approved by the year's end:
House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.) today announced a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The agreement is expected to be approved by the Senate today and the House soon thereafter. The VAWA reauthorization is included in H.R. 3402, which authorizes Justice Department programs for fiscal years 2006-2009 and implements much-needed reforms to the Department's grant programs.Chairman Sensenbrenner commented, ‘The reauthorization of VAWA will continue the tradition of changing attitudes toward domestic violence and will expand its focus to changing attitudes toward other violent crimes including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. This legislation reauthorizes important core programs such as 'STOP' grants and grants to reduce campus violence that have been successful in combating domestic violence and sexual assault.’
Click here to check out the highlights of H.R. 3402.
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Question rather than a comment...
Doesn’t legislation like this, in a sense, institutionalize sentiments of a woman being powerless and vulnerable? I understand that there are a number of benefits to women in the passage of such legislation, so is this position analyzed through a type of cost benefit analysis? (i.e. the benefits of the legislation outweigh the detrimental risk of institutionalizing such attitudes towards women)
Hoping someone could shed some light...
Kyle, if a sort of violence is perpetrated disproportionately against women, women are more vulnerable to it. Also take into consideration other obstacles women face in regards to obtaining and keeping power over their own lives (reproductive freedom, institutional bias, etc). The patriarchal hold on power is based on taking power away from women, not women ceding power to the patriarchy. Empowered women are obviously a force to be reckoned with, but when your path to empowerment is blocked by domestic violence, sexual assault and glass ceilings, empowerment is hard to come by for many.
Felix, maybe you see a lot of advantages to be had by being a victim (thus the claims of greater victimization of men than women), but I'm not really clear on what the advantages would be. Bruises? Fear of leaving the house alone? A spouse that uses threats to keep you from seeing your friends? Data like arrest rates are not very useful when it comes to who is playing what role in situations of domestic violence - the police will often show up at a scene and arrest both parties, unsure of who is acting in self-defense and who is the aggressor. Even less useful is made-up data, the bread and butter of mens' rights organizations. I think we all appreciate that abuse isn't gender-based, but power-based. Greater victimization of women in intimate partner violence is in a sense an abuse of the societal power men have over women. A look at the gender breakdown of elder abusers or child abusers shows that it's not maleness that makes an abuser. The only purpose your purposeful ignorance on this subject serves is maintaining the status quo. Call me names, (Here's a tip: calling feminists girls really isn't the best way to upset them.) but you're not going to convince me I'm stupid, that what occurs around me is a lie, or that you have any kind of handle on reality.