VAWA Legislative Intent is to Include Men

As Stanley Green mentioned during the Conference on Male Victims of Domestic Abuse two Saturdays ago, many people aren't aware that, despite some of the language of the bill, the Violence Against Women Act is not intended to exclude funding for male services, nor could doing so survive a constitutional challenge. Of special interest is the fact that Senator Orin Hatch entered some important comments into the Congressional Record before the bill was passed. These comments can be read in the Read More section below. If you'd like more information on this, the Men's Health Network has some relevant documents you can download from this page. "There is one final issue that has been raised, recently, which we would like to take this opportunity to address, and that is the eligibility of men to receive benefits and services under the original Violence Against Women Act and under this reauthorizing legislation. The original Act was enacted in 1994 to respond to the serious and escalating problem of violence against women. A voluminous legislative record compiled after four years of congressional hearings demonstrated convincingly that certain violent crimes, such as domestic violence and sexual assault, disproportionally affect women, both in terms of the sheer number of assaults and the seriousness of the injuries inflicted. Accordingly, the Act, through several complementary grant programs, made it a priority to address domestic violence and sexual assault targeted at women, even though women, of course, are not alone in experiencing this type of violence.

"Recent statistics justify a continued focus on violence targeted against women. For example, a report by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics issued in May 2000 on Intimate Partner Violence confirms that crimes committed against persons by current or former spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends--termed intimate partner violence--is `committed primarily against women.' Of the approximately 1 million violent crimes committed by intimate partners in 1998, 876,340, or about 85 percent, were committed against women. Women were victims of intimate partner violence at a rate about 5 times that of men. That same year, women represented nearly 3 out of 4 victims of the 1,830 murders attributed to intimate partners. Indeed, while there has been a sharp decrease over the years in the rate of murder of men by intimates, the percentage of female murder victims killed by intimates has remained stubbornly at about 30 percent since 1976.

"Despite the need to direct federal funds toward the most pressing problem, it was not, and is not, the intent of Congress categorically to exclude men who have suffered domestic abuse or sexual assaults from receiving benefits and services under the Violence Against Women Act. The Act defines such key terms as `domestic violence' and `sexual assault,' which are used to determine eligibility under several of the grant programs, including the largest, the STOP grant program, in gender-neutral language. Men who have suffered these types of violent attacks are eligible under current law to apply for services and benefits that are funded under the original Act--and they will remain eligible under the Violence Against Women Act of 2000--whether it be for shelter space under the Family Violence Protection and Services Act, or counseling by the National Domestic Violence Hotline, or legal assistance in obtaining a protection order under the Legal Assistance for Victims program.

"We anticipate that the executive branch agencies responsible for making grants under the Act, as amended, will continue to administer these programs so as to ensure that men who have been victimized by domestic violence and sexual assault will receive benefits and services under the Act, as appropriate.

"We append to this joint statement a section by section analysis of the bill and a more detailed section by section analysis of the provisions contained in Title V.

"Thank you."

- Senator Orin Hatch

October 11, 2000

Congressional Record pgs. 10191-92

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