Sept. 12 (UPI) — President Joe Biden Thursday marked the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act that he wrote and championed as a U.S. senator with new actions to reinforce government work on preventing violence against women.
During an appearance on the South Lawn of the White House, Biden called the VAWA “my proudest legislative accomplishment, in all the years I’ve served as senator, vice president and president.”
The ceremony came a day after he signed a proclamation designating Sept. 13, 2024, as the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act.
“I call upon each of us to change the culture of violence against women and provide meaningful support to all survivors,” the proclamation states. “Together, we can transform the country and build a Nation where all people live free of violence and abuse.”
The president spoke after opening remarks from U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, Executive Director for Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition Nicole Matthews, former college football player Kyle Richard, who was shot as a student while stopping a rape, and Survivor Justice Action President Ruth Glenn.
“It wasn’t too long ago that the country didn’t want to talk about violence against women as a national epidemic, let alone as something the government had to address,” Biden said. “Society often looked away, and in so many places violence against women wasn’t a crime … and we were told addressing it would cause the disintegration of the family.”
In the 1990s, there were no national hotlines for abused women to call, while in pressing for the VAWA, Biden was accused of using women’s shelters as “indoctrination centers,” he said.
“I believed the only way we could change that culture was by shining a light on that culture and speaking its name,” the president said.
In a 1990 Senate hearing, then-Sen. Joe Biden said, “For too long, we have ignored the right of women to be free from the fear of attack based on their gender. For too long, we have kept silent about the obvious.”
The resulting law “transformed the nation’s response to gender-based violence by recognizing that domestic violence and sexual assault are not a private matter, but rather a violation of fundamental rights and dignity,” the White House said.
During the ceremony, Biden cited what his administration called the progress made since in reducing violence and supporting survivors. But he also warned that more work is needed “to realize VAWA’s promise of a nation where every woman and girl can live free from fear, free from violence and free from abuse.”
New funding will be provided from the Department of Justice to address gender-based violence and to support survivors. More than $690 million in grants is expected.
Additional funding will also be awarded from the DOJ for the new National Resource Center on Cybercrimes Against Individuals, as authorized by the VAWA Reauthorization Act of 2022.
The center will help law enforcement, prosecutors and victim services organizations to prevent, enforce, and prosecute cybercrimes with $5.5 million in new grant funding.
Another DOJ initiative will expand technical assistance and federal funding for state and local law enforcement programs that remove guns from domestic abusers convicted of domestic violence crimes or subject to protective orders.
The White House said the DOJ will work to narrow “the boyfriend hole” by “prohibiting persons convicted of misdemeanor crimes in dating relationships from purchasing or possessing firearms for at least five years.”
More steps are being taken across a range of issues related to reducing violence against women.
The Biden-Harris administration said it is working to fully implement the VAWA Reauthorization Act of 2022’s expanded protections and services to combat violence against women and support survivors.