Why the House Version of the Violence Against Women Act is Bad for Women

May 15, 2012

In the May 15th issue of the Detroit Free Press Sociology Professor Stephanie Nawyn, along with Hanna Brenner, Lecturer in the College of Law, Veronica Thronson, Director of the Immigration Law Clinic, Cris Sullivan, Coordinator of the Violence Against Women Research and Outreach Initiative come together to address the House of Representatives version of the Violence Against Women Act (H.R. 4970) which they say is harmful to victims of violence. This bill is intended to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a 1994 law with bipartisan support that has provided essential protections and services to women, men, and children who have been victims of violence. Although VAWA has been reauthorized numerous times since 1994, H.R. 4970 changes VAWA in ways that leave the most vulnerable victims, particularly immigrants, without protections, and increases government regulation and bureacracy. (read full commentary)