VAWAindex

About VAWA:

The Federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) originated with Senator Biden and was passed in 1994 to protect women from partner abuse. VAWA was reauthorized in 2000 and 2005 with many new as well as enhanced core programs and policies, and is up for reauthorization again in 2010. Despite its good intentions, many additional problems have resulted from the enactment of VAWA which detract from its ability to focus on true victims of domestic violence. VAWA funds billions of taxpayer dollars to combat violence against women, but an additional 1,500 individual State laws have now been effected to interpret and expand VAWA but, in the end, have not diminished the rate of abuse. These new laws instead cause conflicts in our legal and law enforcement systems relating to concerns over violations of civil liberties of persons falsely accused of domestic violence. Under VAWA, no sanctions for misleading or outright false claims of abuse are provided for and, as a result, false allegations have quadrupled under VAWA, causing our legal and law enforcement systems to become overwhelmed thus diverting resources from true domestic violence victims (see also, Boston Channel 5 Report on False Allegations). As currently written, VAWA also provokes widespread gender discrimination, denial of due process, and disregard of the presumption of innocence. In addition, VAWA promotes "pro-arrest" and "primary/dominant/predominant aggressor" laws, policies, and practices which undermine fundamental standards of probable cause and have a disproportionately negative impact on low-income, African-American and Hispanic communities. With regard to immigration issues, by simply claiming DV abuse, a VAWA self-petition has become the cheapest and fastest way for a foreigner to achieve legal status. VAWA affords generous services, benefits, and legal rights to illegal immigrants who allege abuse, while overriding the civil rights of law-abiding American citizens.

For complete information on this bill, please see Violence Against Women Act of 2005

Featured: *False Allegations* *Why VAWA Reform* *Women Want VAWA Reform* *VAWA: Harmful to Families and Children* *Biased VAWA Discriminates* *Decline of the American Family* *Crespo Case* *Lilly Ledbetter* *Appellate Court Finding VAWA Discrimination Unconstitutional* *Eagle Forum Announces Conference Success* Our Stories: *Personal Story #1* *Personal Story* (This could be yours) *A Police Officer's Story*	Who We Are: Women for VAWA Reform is a grassroots organization comprised of ordinary Americans who have pledged to educate Congress and our communities as to how enactment of many VAWA policies and procedures is destroying our society. Mandatory arrests and one-size-fits-all solutions only exacerbate the problem and encourage the destruction of the family unit, while multiple thousands of erroneous and unnecessary cases clog our legal and law enforcement system due to false accusations and the manipulation of those with personal agendas. In the end, true domestic violence victims are left without the necessary funding or resources and must in the end suffer the consequences of a broken system. Although VAWA has improved the availability of many services and has enhanced public awareness of domestic violence, sadly, current domestic violence programs continue to prove ineffective in helping victims of domestic violence and in reducing partner abuse overall. We are daily faced with the detrimental effects of certain VAWA policies, and know we must now fight not only to seek equal and constitutional protection for many thousands of wrongfully accused men, but to further protect the rights and sanctity of the American family. By including penalties for false accusations and wrongful punishment, by offering alternative resolutions and culturally sensitive and relevant counseling for minor or first time offenders as well as their partners/families, and by mandating unbiased, non-discriminatory practices and policies in our shelters to secure protection for true victims, we will render better long-term results and hopefully stop the cycle of violence in our communities. Many of us have worked with the legal, social, psychological and family issues which currently result from VAWA's enactment and understand that this is not just a law enforcement/legal issue, but one that needs positive and rational solutions to elicit far reaching effects on our homes, families and society as a whole. "For too long, victims of abuse have been re-victimized by a system that ignores their wishes, escalates partner conflict, and fails to effectively treat their abusers," notes AAVR spokesperson Elizabeth Crawford. "We must bring about hope to find real solutions to the problem of domestic violence." We must, of course, ensure that all funding and resources are available to better protect true DV victims by eliminating the waste and abuse within the system, but not at the expense of civil liberties, a presumption of innocence and due process. Changes must be made to protect the rights and well being of ALL our citizens. As women, but more importantly, as concerned citizens, we can no longer wait for the cries of the aggrieved to be heard but must act now to become their voice. *Our Mission:* With the best of intentions, VAWA has not lived up to its promises and, in its current form, violates due process, equal protection and other civil rights. It has become evident that serious attention must be directed to amend VAWA to accomplish its intended goals without infringement of civil liberty and, therefore, Women for VAWA Reform is underway to mobilize and educate the public as to how VAWA funds and resources are currently being used to promote harmful gender stereotypes and to do away with even a pretense of due process. We must insist that VAWA be amended before its reauthorization in 2010 and encourage all interested parties to get involved. Your sons and grandsons, your neighbors and friends are depending on you to do the right thing!
African-American Community Issues: Shelter Issues: Immigration: *Natasha Spivak - DC Festival 2008* *VAWA-Funded Immigration Fraud Costs Taxpayers $170 Million a Year*	About VAWA: The Federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) originated with Senator Biden and was passed in 1994 to protect women from partner abuse. VAWA was reauthorized in 2000 and 2005 with many new as well as enhanced core programs and policies, and is up for reauthorization again in 2010. Despite its good intentions, many additional problems have resulted from the enactment of VAWA which detract from its ability to focus on true victims of domestic violence. VAWA funds billions of taxpayer dollars to combat violence against women, but an additional 1,500 individual State laws have now been effected to interpret and expand VAWA but, in the end, have not diminished the rate of abuse. These new laws instead cause conflicts in our legal and law enforcement systems relating to concerns over violations of civil liberties of persons falsely accused of domestic violence. Under VAWA, no sanctions for misleading or outright false claims of abuse are provided for and, as a result, false allegations have quadrupled under VAWA, causing our legal and law enforcement systems to become overwhelmed thus diverting resources from true domestic violence victims (see also, *Boston Channel 5 Report on False Allegations). As currently written, VAWA also provokes widespread gender discrimination, denial of due process, and disregard of the presumption of innocence. In addition, VAWA promotes "pro-arrest" and "primary/dominant/predominant aggressor" laws, policies, and practices which undermine fundamental standards of probable cause and have a disproportionately negative impact on low-income, African-American and Hispanic communities. With regard to immigration issues, by simply claiming DV abuse, a VAWA self-petition has become the cheapest and fastest way for a foreigner to achieve legal status. VAWA affords generous services, benefits, and legal rights to illegal immigrants who allege abuse, while overriding the civil rights of law-abiding American citizens. For complete information on this bill, please see Violence Against Women Act of 2005*
More Info: *African Americans for VAWA Reform* *An Attorney's Viewpoint* Reform VAWA Declaration of the VAWA Reform Coalition Political Information TO GET HELP CALL Nat'l DV Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE If you or someone you know is in need of assistance re issues of VAWA abuse, or DV, the following resources can be found online: Safe Forum Domestic Violence Men's Support Shattered Men Listing of State-Level Services	Supporter Spotlight: In association with African Americans for VAWA Reform, please go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/aavreform/ and sign our Petition! We need as many people as possible to contact Congress today TO VOTE YES ON THE LILLY LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT (S.181); your calls make a difference! Radio Spots continue to spread the word. October was DV Awareness Month. We succeeded in redefining the debate on VAWA. Finally it is possible to ask questions as to whether VAWA is helping, without being accused of being in favor of domestic violence. The theme for DV Awareness Month is “False Claims Hurt True Victims.” This represents a HUGE opportunity for us to get our message out, which will lay the groundwork to develop political support for our alternative version of VAWA. Send out Letters to the Editor; blogs; e-mail lists; presentations to club or church group; conversations w/friends & colleagues; letters to friends & family; a 50-foot banner -- the sky's the limit. You can make a difference! Last week we hit the Senate w/info re the Florida abuse shelter scandal; Sept 12th we distributed invitations in the House of Representatives regarding the Heritage conference in Oct and alerted our Congressman to the need for reform. If you would like to become involved, please contact Barbara You can also reach out to candidates (see more info), Congress and the media AND TELL THEM YOUR STORY!