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A version of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act was recently passed through the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. While on title alone this may sound good, it can be extremely harmful for victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.
The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2012 (VAWA) (HR 4970, Rep. Sandy Adams, R-FL), as introduced, severely undermines protections available to people of New Mexico. The New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence opposes any amendment, bill or substitution to VAWA that will weaken or eliminate provisions to protect Native American, LGBT and immigrant communities, all of whom are vital to New Mexico’s diverse landscape.
Under its current guise, this is exactly what Adams’ version of VAWA does. Her version of the bill that passed the House Judiciary Committee on the vote of 17-15 on almost a straight party vote, contains dangerous changes for immigrant victims. It also omitted provisions to allow tribes to prosecute domestic violence committed by non-Indians, it weakens housing provisions that were included in the Senate bill, and it uses unacceptable “gender-neutral” language that ignores, rather than addresses, issues of LGBT victims.
We are asking our three congressmen to please follow the leadership provided by our two U.S. senators, Tom Udall and Jeff Bingaman. Both co-sponsored S 1925, “The real VAWA,” in the Senate.
Udall stood up and spoke out about the current loophole affecting Native Americans. Indian women face rates of victimization many times higher than those faced by non-Indian women due to a current gap in law enforcement and court jurisdiction over crimes of domestic and sexual violence occurring on tribal land.
State courts and state law enforcement have said very clearly that they cannot take on the responsibility of addressing this horrific level of victimization. The Senate’s version of VAWA addresses this loophole by allowing tribal courts to hold violent offenders accountable.
The Violence Against Women Act was enacted in 1994 and reauthorized twice, in 2000 and 2005. It has a long history of uniting lawmakers with the common purpose of protecting survivors of domestic violence. When VAWA was first conceived, Congress recognized that the noncitizen status of battered immigrants can make them particularly vulnerable to crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking. The abusers of undocumented immigrants often exploit the victims’ immigration status, leaving the victim afraid to seek services or report the abuse to law enforcement and making them fearful of assisting with the investigation and prosecution of these crimes.
Congress sought to address this through the enactment of provisions in VAWA that enhance safety for victims and their children and provide an important tool for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute crimes.
The changes proposed in HR 4970 dramatically undercut these existing provisions to protect immigrant survivors. In fact, it creates more obstacles for immigrant victims seeking to report crimes, which increases the danger to these victims by eliminating important confidentiality protections, undermining current anti-fraud protections, and rolls back years of progress and commitments made on the part of Congress to protect our most vulnerable victims.
On behalf of the 27 domestic violence shelters and programs we represent, and on behalf of all the clients they serve we ask for Reps. Steve Pearce, Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján not to let this version of VAWA pass the House floor. Pass a version of VAWA that is similar to the Senate’s bill (S. 1925), which will protect survivors of domestic violence here in the Land of Enchantment.
