This file was prepared for electronic distribution by the inforM staff. Questions or comments should be directed to inform-editor@umail.umd.edu. Chapter III THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT: A NATIONAL RESPONSE For too long, this country has ignored the question women in America must ask themselves every day: "Will I be safe today? How can I prevent this violence from happening?" Our survey shows, in dramatic fashion, that this problem will never be addressed adequately if people continue to say to themselves that all it requires is to "be in the right place at the right time." The Failure of Our Laws Policies and Attitudes Despite enormous strides in some areas, our laws, policies and attitudes remain inadequate to the task of fighting this epidemic of violence. * We live in a country with three times as many animal shelters as battered women's shelters. * We live in a country where a county task force recently reported that, while 60 individuals were sentenced for sexually assaulting children in a year, only 1 person received a prison sentence. -9 * We live in a country where a recent survey of teenagers showed high levels, of approval of violence: almost 10 percent of the students surveyed said they approved of a husband hitting his wife "if she would not listen to reason;" and more than 12 percent approved of a wife hitting a husband in a similar situation. -10 The Violence Against Women Act In January of 1991, Senator Biden introduced the Violence Against Women Act. This legislation attacks not only the violent effects of the problem, but the subtle prejudices that lurk behind it. As Senator Biden has said before, none of the proposals in the bill, alone or together, are likely to end violence against women. However, the legislation is an important step in the right direction, in the direction of developing what we need the most -- a national consensus that this society will not tolerate this kind of violence and the terror that it spawns. This chapter summarizes each of the five titles of the "Violence Against Women Act of 1991." Title I - Safe Streets for Women Title I of the bill -- the Safe Streets for Women Act -- signals that crimes against women must be taken seriously as a law enforcement priority. To ensure that states will have the necessary resources to target violent crimes against women as a top priority, Title I provides $300 million to states and areas most in need of assistance. * Creates special units of police, prosecutors, and victim advocates to fight crimes against women. Title I also takes simple, but necessary, measures to increase safety for women in public parks and on public transit. * Earmarks existing funding to put more lights and security cameras in bus stops and adjacent parking lots, in national parks, state parks, and subway stations. * Set aside existing park funds for emergency telephones and police in public parks. * Provides grants and loans to study ways to reduce violent crimes against women in public transit through better design or operation of public transit systems. This title also makes significant improvements in the Federal system's response to crimes against women: * Doubles for rape and aggravated rape prosecuted in federal courts, creates new penalties for sex offenders, and mandates restitution to the victims of sex crimes. Title I also enhances the Federal system's response to violence against women by encouraging women to prosecute their attackers. The encouragement comes in many forms, from educating women about their rights, to helping them prove their case, to making rape trials more bearable. * Extends "rape shield law" protection to criminal civil cases; bars the use of a woman's clothing to show, at trial, that the victim incited or invited a sexual assault. * Authorizes $65 million in funds for rape prevention and education. * Requires states to pay for all forensic rape examinations. Finally, Title I establishes the National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women. The Commission will promote a national policy on violent crime against women and will make recommendations on reducing such crime. Title II - Safe Homes for Women Title II of the bill -- the Safe Homes for Women Act -- focuses on crimes of domestic violence. National leadership on the issue is sorely needed. To put it in the words of one witness who testified at Committee hearings on the bill, "we have to make a ***clear[er], a louder statement that this criminal, that in this country this is not accepted, nor will be tolerated." ^11 Title II responds to this challenge in many important ways. To protect women from abusive spouses, Title II provides the following federal remedies: * Creates the first federal penalties for crimes committed against spouses during interstate travel and crimes committed by the spouse abusers who cross state lines to continue their abuse; * Requires that a protection order issued by the court of one state be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another state. Title II provides significant incentives to encourage states to treat domestic violence as a serious crime. * Authorizes $25 million for states that implement pro-arrest programs and policies in police departments and improve case tracking to promote the arrest of abusing spouses. * Provides additional grants to "model states" to engage in innovative techniques to increase arrest, prosecution and conviction rates in domestic violence cases. * For states suffering from strain on their systems because of increased arrests, the bill provides additional assistance to centralize and systematize the process. * More than triples existing levels of funding for battered women's shelters. Finally, Title II heightens awareness about domestic violence through schools and the media. * Authorizes a national media campaign against such violence. * Funds programs for education of young people about domestic violence and violence among intimate partners, with programs for primary, middle, and secondary schools, as well as institutions of higher education. Title III - Civil Rights for Women Title III of the bill -- the Civil Rights for Women Act -- creates the first civil rights remedy aimed at violent gender-based discrimination against women. While this society has announced, and upheld, a national commitment against violent discrimination for 120 years, that commitment has never adequately protected victims of gender-motivated violence. It is the fundamental purpose of Title III to correct that imbalance by providing these victims with an effective anti-discrimination remedy for violently expressed prejudice. * Allows women to vindicate their right to be free of gender-based violence through a civil suit for monetary or other relief * Makes gender-based assaults a violation of federal civil rights laws. Title III seeks to put gender-motivated bias crimes against women on the same footing as other bias crimes. Whether the attack is motivated by racial bias or ethnic bias or gender bias, the results are often the same. The violence not only wounds physically, it degrades and terrorizes, instilling fear and inhibiting the lives of all those similarly situated. As Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris testified before the committee: "Until women as a class have the same protection offered others who are the object of irrational, hate-motivated abuse and assault, we as a society should feel humiliated and ashamed.''12 Title IV - Safe Campuses for Women Title IV of the bill -- the Safe Campuses for Women Act -- focuses on the special problems facing young women on campuses. Women between the ages of 18 and 24 are among those most likely to be raped, and a significant portion of these young women are in college. Title IV creates: * A $20 million grant program for the neediest colleges to fund campus rape education and prevention programs. Title V - Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Title V of the bill -- the Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act -- recognizes the crucial role played by the Judicial Branch in forming an effective response to violent crimes against women in our society. * Creates training programs for State and Federal judges to raise awareness and increase sensitivity about rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender. Training curricula must be developed in conjunction with a broad array of experts, including law enforcement officials, volunteer victim advocates, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other legal experts. The programs will focus on a number of issues, including sexual assault, domestic violence and gender stereotyping.