Family Violence Prevention and Services Act and Violence Against Women Act 1994

This essay discusses the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act and the Violence Against Women Act 1994, their position in solving the issue of domestic violence, their effectiveness and limitation. It also provides a detailed discussion on domestic violence, its impact, and the legislations enacted to prevent it.

Running head: CRIMINAL JUSTICE
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Author Note

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Abstract
Domestic violence is the abuse of violence towards an individual in what can be
described as domestic setting such as co-habitation or marriage. Other terms that can be used
for domestic violence are family violence or intimate partner violence. In domestic violence a
person can be abused physically, emotionally or sexually and it also includes stalking by
former or current partner. In this essay a detailed discussion has been done in relation to
‘Family Violence Prevention and Services Act’ and ‘Violence Against Women Act 1994’,
their position in solving the issue of domestic violence, their effectiveness and limitation. The
‘Family Violence Prevention and Services Act’ (FVPSA) are seen as supporting lifesaving
services which include emergency shelters, counselling, crisis hotlines, and several other
programs for the communities that are under-served throughout US Alaska Native and
American Indian communities, and territories. ‘Violence Against Women Act 1994’ is a
federal law in the United States of America. It is the first federal legislation of the United
States that aimed for providing aid to the victims of domestic and intimate partner violence.
This Act has been effective for the prosecution and investigation of various crimes against the
women that are violent in nature.

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Introduction
Domestic violence is the abuse of violence towards an individual in what can be
described as domestic setting such as co-habitation or marriage. Other terms that can be used
for domestic violence are intimate partner violence or family violence. In domestic violence a
person can be abused physically, emotionally or sexually and it also includes stalking by
former or current partner. The issue of domestic violence can be seen as an increasing
concern in the recent years. According to National Statistics Domestic Violence Fact Sheets
observations have been made that in United States of America almost 20 people are abused in
a domestic setting every minute. The fact sheet further mentions that extreme level of
physical, emotional and sexual abuse is experienced by every one out of four women and
every one out of nine men from an intimate partner. Almost 20,000 phone calls are placed
nation-wide in an average to the hotlines for domestic violence each day. In the fact sheet in
furtherance a correlation has been made between domestic violence and the increase in the
rates of depression and suicidal tendencies. Domestic violence is considered as one of the
major reasons for the increase in the rate of homicide in the country. As per the National
Statistics Domestic Violence Fact Sheets mostly the women between the age group of 18-24
years are seen as becoming the victims of intimate partner violence (NCADV, 2019). Various
legislations have been enacted both state and nation-wide for preventing domestic and
intimate partner violence. One such legislation is ‘Violence Against Women Act 1994’
(VAWA). ‘Family Violence Prevention and Services Act’ is another legislation enacted for
preventing domestic violence. In this paper a detailed discussion has been done in relation to
the aforementioned legislations, their position in solving the issue of domestic violence, their
effectiveness and limitation.

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Literature Review
Violence Against Women Act 1994
The ‘Violence Against Women Act 1994’ is a federal law of America. It is the first
federal legislation of the United States that aimed for providing aid to the victims of domestic
and intimate partner violence. This Act has been effective for the prosecution and
investigation of various crimes against the women that are violent in nature. This Act was
further seen as imposing restitution that are mandatory and automatic on the individuals that
are convicted and allowing for civil redress when the cases are left un-prosecuted. Office on
Violence Against Women under the Department of Justice was also established under the
provisions of this Act. The Act was seen to be directing new resources to the local programs
for the domestic and intimate partner violence, and funding communities for the development
of coordinated responses (Whittier, 2016). The Act also encouraged the collaborations
between the law enforcement, child welfare, services based on the community that are seen as
necessary. The programs and services that can be seen as being included in the Violence
Against Women laws are- the ‘rape shield law’ of the federal legislation, community based
programs for the prevention of violence, protection for victims who have been evicted from
their homes for the reasons of stalking or domestic violence, provide fundings for various
services for the victim-assistance such as the ‘rape crisis’ hotlines and centers, the programs
for meeting the needs of the women who are immigrant and the women belonging from
different ethnicities or races, services and programs for the victims having disabilities, and
providing legal aids for domestic violence survivors.
Family Violence Prevention and Services Act
‘Family Violence Prevention and Services Act’ is a law of America that was first seen
as being authorized as a part of the 1984 Child Abuse Amendment. This Act is seen as

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providing federal funding for helping the victims of domestic and intimate partner violence
and the children dependant on the victims by providing them with shelters and other related
helps, offering them with prevention of violence programs, and improving the work of
service agencies in the communities (Solomon-Fears, 2016). The Act is further seen to be
providing with a 24-hour toll-free and confidential ‘National Domestic Violence Hotline’
which can be seen as providing to millions of domestic and intimate partner violence victims
referrals, information, safety-planning, support, and crisis intervention in almost 170
languages each year. Under this Act the ‘Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancements and
Leadership Through Alliances’ (DELTA) Program is seen to be teaching the people ways for
the prevention of violence (Cdc.gov, 2019). The Act further provides formula grants which
help the territories, states, and tribes for creating and supporting programs that are seen as
working for helping the victims and preventing family violence.
It can be said of the two Acts Violence Against Women Act 1994 would be more
effective.
Position
In this essay the VAWA Act has been selected as the most adequate option of the two
Acts. The FVPSA can be seen as lacking proper funding for providing adequate resources
towards the needs of the victims. The lack of funding by the FVPSA deters the agencies
working for supporting the victims of the domestic violence. The VAWA is the first federal
legislation that was seen to be providing support to the victims of domestic violence. As this
Act is a federal legislation there is no lack of funding for aiding the victims as can be seen in
the FVPSA. Under this Act’s provisions protection has been provided to the undocumented
and battered immigrants who are the victims to the domestic violence and the transgender
victims as well. The major drawback of this Act is that because of its protection towards the

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immigrant and the transgender victims the Act is opposed by most of the conservative
Republicans. Both the adequacies and the inadequacies of the two Acts are being discussed as
follows.
The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) can be seen as supporting
lifesaving services which include emergency shelters, crisis hotlines, counselling, and
programs for the underserved communities that are present throughout the USA, Alaska
Native and American Indian communities, and territories. Over 1,500 domestic violence
agencies locally are seen to be relying on FVPSA-funding for keeping their doors open
towards more than approximately 1.3 million victims who are seen as seeking safety each
year. However an unconscionable gap is seen between the needs of the victims and the
resources that are available by the FVPSA. There is a need for the increase in the federal
legislation in the investments for the domestic violence programs funded under this Act for
the victim survivals.
In the 2000 S.C case of United States v. Morrison, the Court was seen striking down
provision of VAWA that allowed the women rights to be suing their attackers in federal
court. VAWA was seen as being reauthorized by the majorities in the bipartisan in Congress
in the year 2000 and in December of 2005. The renewal of the Act in 2012 was observed as
being opposed by many of the conservative Republicans, whose objection was mainly
towards the extension of the protections of the Act to the couples of the same-sex and also
towards the provisions that could be seen as allowing undocumented battered immigrants for
claiming temporary visas. VAWA also can be seen as supporting the work of the
organizations that are community-based and have been observed to be engaged in working
for solving the issue relating to domestic violence, sexual assaults, dating violence, and
stalking; particularly to the groups that can be seen as providing specific cultural and
linguistic services. Additionally, VAWA can also be seen as providing specific support

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towards the individuals working with the tribes and tribal organizations for ending domestic
violence, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence, against the Native American women. In
December 2018 the Act was expired and was seen as reinstated temporarily but was seen as
expiring again. In the April 2019 a bill has been passed by the House of Representatives for
the reauthorization of the Act which would be including the provisions for the protection of
the transgender victims.
Conclusion
In this essay a detailed discussion has been done in relation to the Family Violence
Prevention and Services Act and the Violence Against Women Act 1994, their position in
solving the issue of domestic violence, their effectiveness and limitation. The FVSA is a US
federal law which provides funding for helping the victims in domestic violence and the
children dependant on the victims by providing them with shelters and other related helps.
However an unconscionable gap is seen between the needs of the victims and the resources
available for the funding of the victims. The VAWA 1994 is the first federal legislation of the
USA aimed for providing aid to the victims of domestic violence. The major drawback of this
Act is that it is opposed by the Republicans and for this reason is seen as being expiring
multiple times over the years.

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Reference
Family Violence Prevention and Services Act
NCADV. (2019). NCADV | National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Retrieved 8
September 2019, from https://ncadv.org/statistics
United States v. Morrison (2000)
Violence Against Women Act 1994
Cdc.gov. (2019). DELTA|Funded Programs|Violence Prevention|Injury Center|CDC.
Retrieved 16 September 2019, from
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/delta/index.html
Whittier, N. (2016). Carceral and intersectional feminism in congress: The violence against
women act, discourse, and policy. Gender & Society, 30(5), 791-818.
Solomon-Fears, C. (2016). The Child Support Enforcement Program: A Legislative
History. Congressional Research Service, 7-5700.