In September, the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) turned sixteen years old.  On September 13, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed this piece of legislation. VAWA provides money to: enhance investigation and prosecution of violent crimes perpetrated against women, increase pre-trial detention of the accused, impose automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allow civil redress in cases where prosecutors elect not to prosecute. Some have described this law as “the greatest breakthrough in civil rights for women in nearly two decades.”

VAWA was reauthorized by Congress in 2000, and again in December 2005. The bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 5, 2006. VAWA will be up for reauthorization in 2011.

For more information, visit the Department of Health and Human Services violence against women website and the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women.

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