Violence Against Women Act: Re-authorization and Impact for Forensic Health Professionals

Abstract

Since Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994, millions of dollars have been expended to raise awareness and combat domestic violence to improve and increase provision of services to victims of violence including domestic, intimate partner, stalking, dating, and sexual assault.  VAWA aims to provide housing and shelter services, and improves the manner in which the justice system responds to crimes of domestic and associated violence. (Seghetti & Bjelopera, 2012).  Federal grants were created and administered by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office for Violence Against Women (OVW) during the past 29 years and VAWA funding was reauthorized in 2022 to federal, state and tribal agencies.  This article reviews the history of the VAWA Act, tracks milestones in Federal funding, and recognizes forensic nursing benchmarks including the generalist approach.