With Leadership from Congressman Steven Horsford, House Votes to Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Steven Horsford voted to pass the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021, which would reauthorize funding for programs and services that prevent gender-based violence and support victims. Congressman Horsford is an original co-sponsor of the legislation, which was introduced with bipartisan support.

"In 1994, the landmark Violence Against Women Act ushered in transformative progress to address the scourge of violence against women. Reauthorizing this legislation will provide critical resources to stop gender-based violence and save lives," said Congressman Steven Horsford. "This bill expands essential protections for millions of Americans, including tribal and LGBTQ+ communities that were left out of past reauthorizations. I'm proud to stand with a bipartisan coalition of colleagues to pass the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act in the House, and I hope my colleagues in the Senate will quickly do the same."

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was passed in 1994 with strong bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress. The legislation was later reauthorized with bipartisan majorities in 2000, 2005, and 2013. After VAWA expired in 2019, it was reauthorized in the House, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring it to a vote in the Senate.

The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021:

• Reauthorizes grant programs to improve the criminal justice response to gender-based violence
• Improves the health care system's response to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking
• Protects victims of dating violence from firearm homicide
• Maintains existing protections for all survivors
• Improves access to housing for victims and survivors
• Helps survivors gain and maintain economic independence
• Enhances and expands access to victim services
• Provides support to communities of color through inclusive language and targeted resources
• Ends impunity for non-Native perpetrators of sexual assault, child abuse co-occurring with domestic violence, stalking, sex trafficking, and assaults on tribal law enforcement officers on tribal lands

A copy of the bill is available here.

A section-by-section analysis is available here.

MEDIA CONTACT

Geneva Kropper | Geneva.Kropper@mail.house.gov | 202-849-0251