On November 20th, Senator Joni Ernst introduced a bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (NTF) was not given the opportunity to review the legislation before it was introduced. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis is forthcoming. However, based on an initial review, the NTF would like to highlight several key provisions that would harm survivors by reducing access to safety and justice, as well as the omission of important provisions to enhance access to safety and justice that are included in H.R.1585, which passed the House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support in April. The companion bill to H.R.1585, S.2843, was recently introduced in the Senate.
A key requirement for NTF to support any VAWA reauthorization bill is that it cannot roll back or undermine current laws that protect survivors and communities. Senator Ernst’s bill fails this test. It actively rolls back existing LGBTQ nondiscrimination provisions and undermines key protections for Native survivors. The bill rolls back existing emergency transfer protections and omits vital protections that are in H.R.1585/S.2843, including vouchers to facilitate immediate relocation for survivors in danger and a federal response to nuisance ordinances. Senator Ernst’s bill also excludes the enhancements requested by advocates to address the needs of underserved populations in rape education and prevention, violence reduction, and youth programs, and lacks needed protections for LGBTQ survivors.
Moreover, Senator Ernst’s bill fails to even recognize the epidemic of guns and intimate partner violence that impacts the safety of victims, survivors, and the community at large. It also weakens the economic justice provisions in H.R.1585 by omitting key unemployment insurance protections that mirror those already on the books in forty states. Furthermore, at this historic moment when the country is focused on criminal justice reform and some survivors are seeking non-carceral solutions to domestic and sexual violence, not only does Senator Ernst’s bill eliminate outright all criminal justice reform-related provisions, it actually enhances ten criminal penalties. This is the wrong approach.
While Senator Ernst’s bill increases investments in grant programs to support services and prevention, the NTF cannot support legislation that makes such investments at the expense of rolling back, undermining, or omitting necessary protections to enhance access to safety and justice for communities and survivors.
As advocates for victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking, our mandate is to work with Congress to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act in a way that meets the needs of victims and survivors and advances their interests. As we evaluate this bill, we will search for common ground for the survivors we serve. We hope to work with Senator Ernst, Senator Feinstein, and their colleagues on both sides of the aisle in an open and transparent way on a bill that includes the beneficial provisions of Senator Ernst’s bill and vital provisions in H.R.1585/S.2843. Such a bill must preserve existing protections and meet the needs of victims and survivors that Senator Ernst’s bill does not address.