VAWA, TVPA SAFER ACT combine as powerhouse against rape, abuse, sex trafficking

This condition rankled the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which was the major organization that received funds to pass on to other non-profits addressing the sex trafficking issues.   They had already been engaged in contending with HHS over this issue in the health bill, and the TVPA objections culminated in a suit brought against them by the ACLU.  Although the court decided the litigation was moot, since the contract had already expired, the failure of the TVPA to pass seemed to be a punitive move against the Catholic group.Just prior to the Senate passage on February 12, 2013, another stalled and embattled bill, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), was added as an amendment to the VAWA.  The TVPA also ran out in 2011, even though many efforts were made to pass it then and in 2012.  This legislation has been broadened with every reauthorization since its inception in 2000, first being focused on non-US victims within our country and later including US survivors with greater attention to sex trafficked children.  The 2012 version, proposed by the Democrats, mandated the full range of birth control services be made available to trafficking victims, whether requested by the survivors or whether the provision of such services would be against the conscience of the service provider.First introduced in 1994, the VAWA has typically moved reasonably well through the reauthorization periods.  It did expire at the end of 2011, creating greater urgency for passage at this time.  Politicians such as Patrick Leahy and celebrities such as Michael Bolton joined forces to garner public support for the bill to be passed.View the list »
Historic legislation granting all US women greater protections from violent relationships was presented to President Barack Obama today for signature. The bill, S. 47, known as the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), has broadened protections to Native Am

Crime & Courts newsletter

Historic legislation granting all US women greater protections from violent relationships was presented to President Barack Obama today for signature. The bill, S. 47, known as the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), has broadened protections to Native Americans, LGBT women and illegals who are victims of domestic violence, rape and sex trafficking. The president has vowed he will sign the bill as soon as it hits his desk.

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The VAWA has run the gamut of being a hotly contested political football, but ending with widespread bi-partisan support in both the Senate and the House, passing with 78-22 and 286-138 margins respectively. The Democrats contend that the bill was held up by the House Republicans who wanted to weaken the provisions for some groups of victims, such as the tribal and gay women, but when the bills from both parties were put to the vote, the version that the Senate moved forward was passed intact.

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  • First introduced in 1994, the VAWA has typically moved reasonably well through the reauthorization periods.  It did expire at the end of 2011, creating greater urgency for passage at this time.  Politicians such as Patrick Leahy and celebrities such as Michael Bolton joined forces to garner public support for the bill to be passed.
  • Just prior to the Senate passage on February 12, 2013, another stalled and embattled bill, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), was added as an amendment to the VAWA.  The TVPA also ran out in 2011, even though many efforts were made to pass it then and in 2012.  This legislation has been broadened with every reauthorization since its inception in 2000, first being focused on non-US victims within our country and later including US survivors with greater attention to sex trafficked children.  The 2012 version, proposed by the Democrats, mandated the full range of birth control services be made available to trafficking victims, whether requested by the survivors or whether the provision of such services would be against the conscience of the service provider.
  • This condition rankled the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which was the major organization that received funds to pass on to other non-profits addressing the sex trafficking issues.   They had already been engaged in contending with HHS over this issue in the health bill, and the TVPA objections culminated in a suit brought against them by the ACLU.  Although the court decided the litigation was moot, since the contract had already expired, the failure of the TVPA to pass seemed to be a punitive move against the Catholic group.
  • Another bill that was added to the VAWA in the eleventh hour is the The Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting (SAFER) Act of 2013 which will increase funding to catch up the backlog of rape kits that have never been tested.All the components of the VAWA together create funding and protocols for better services to abuse and rape victims and stronger prosecution and sentencing tools for law enforcement and courts.Violence against anyone is not acceptable, and perhaps a cadre of policies that make that stance will begin to have some noticeable impact on the violence and sexual assault levels in our country.
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, Sex Trafficking Examiner

Holly Craw started writing for Examiner.com in Sept 2009 as the Phoenix Homeschooling Examiner. Now she is branching out into another area of passionate concern--that of working to eradicate child sex slavery. Millions of children around the world are forced into prostitution each year and their...

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