Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
This past September, I had the profound honor of sitting with a group of survivors who bravely shared their stories, wisdom, and leadership during the commemoration of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) 30th Anniversary in the Great Hall at the Department of Justice. These courageous individuals, representing a rich diversity of backgrounds and experiences, spoke with unflinching honesty about their journeys and provided their recommendations for charting the path forward into this next decade. Their powerful words served as a poignant reminder of how far we have come in addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking since the early 1990s when courageous survivors shared their accounts with members of Congress and contributed to the development and enactment of VAWA in 1994. Their accounts and recommendations, as well as those provided by others at the VAWA stakeholder summit, also underscore the critical work that remains to ensure safety, justice, and support for all survivors, and to end gender-based violence.
I am profoundly grateful for the trust placed in me to serve as the Director of the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) during the Biden-Harris Administration and for the tremendous opportunity that I have had to work with such an outstanding and dedicated team at OVW to provide funding and support for projects in communities across the United States, territories, and Tribal Nations to advance our nation’s commitment to prevent and address gender-based violence (GBV). This responsibility is both humbling and inspiring, as it represents support for the resilience and dedication of countless survivors, advocates, criminal and civil justice professionals, healthcare providers, community leaders, faith-based organizations, educational institutions, and many other service providers working tirelessly to bring hope and healing. Their unwavering commitment fuels this mission, which will continue to move forward thanks to the visionary spirit and tireless dedication of all those committed to this mission, at the local, state, Tribal, national, and international levels.
As I say farewell, it is also an opportunity to take stock of all that we have advanced together during the past four years of this administration. It is an honor to share this summary of accomplishments, highlighting new grant programs, initiatives, policies, and strategic engagement during this period. This includes numerous new grant programs and initiatives that OVW launched following the reauthorization and expansion of VAWA in 2022, as well as new initiatives through the appropriations acts in 2023 and 2024. OVW also distributed $690 million in Fiscal Year 2024, a record amount of annual funding, to support the work at the local, state, Tribal, and national level, marking a 35% increase compared to four years ago.
OVW also forged strong collaborations across other components of the Department of Justice, as well as with other federal agencies, to enhance our own coordinated community response (CCR) as federal partners and to ensure that our efforts to prevent and address gender-based violence are aligned with the recommendations of the field and responsive to the needs of survivors in a more comprehensive manner. Whether it was addressing the emerging threats of online abuse, strengthening local and federal partnerships to tackle firearms-related violence, launching new pilot programs to support restorative practices, strengthening efforts to uphold Tribal sovereignty and support Tribal communities, addressing sexual misconduct in prison facilities, or advancing equity by broadening access to federal funds, every initiative was rooted in a commitment to listening to the field and centering the voices of survivors.
VAWA was born from years of grassroots advocacy and the leadership of survivors, and it continues to be an important catalyst for the societal changes that have brought GBV out of the shadows so that offenders may be held accountable and survivors may access the resources they need to seek justice, safety, and healing. VAWA’s 1994 enactment and its reauthorizations in 2000, 2005, 2013, and 2022 are a testament to the power of what may be accomplished by working together – across civil society, community-based organizations, faith-based groups, private sector organizations, and federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments – to create a society that does not tolerate abuse of any kind. As we prepare to commemorate Martin Luther King Day on January 20, I am reminded of his quote, “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” It is through this continuous struggle that we continue to advance this commitment. As we move forward into the next decade, survivors’ voices must continue to be our north star as we scale up what’s working well and identify and address the gaps and barriers that remain.
In conjunction with the 30th anniversary of VAWA, OVW released two reports to demonstrate VAWA’s impact over the last three decades by gathering input from survivors, advocates, and others working on the ground to prevent and address GBV in their communities. The first, Answering the Call: Thirty Years of the Violence Against Women Act, uses research, data, archival material, and the experiences of survivors and OVW grantees to tell the story of how VAWA evolved and how it transformed our national response to GBV. The second, A Legacy and Future of Safety and Justice, distills information gathered from survivors, advocates, key stakeholders, and other experts in the field over the course of this year to highlight VAWA’s immense impact since 1994, as well as the ways it must continue to evolve as the federal government seeks to continue advancing our nation’s commitment to prevent and address GBV.
Both reports recognize that although VAWA is enacted by Congress and implemented by federal agencies, it is only effective thanks to the hard work, dedication, and partnership of communities. We know that adopting multidisciplinary approaches that are survivor-centered, trauma-informed, and rooted in a CCR is the best way for survivors to feel heard, respected, and supported as they walk their unique paths to safety, healing, and justice. Because survivors’ lives do not exist in silos, it is critical that no individual or entity operates in a silo and that we all work together to prevent and effectively address GBV.
Though the CCR is most often applied to work happening at the local level, it is equally important for all systems to embrace the collaborative heart of the CCR model. To that end, OVW was glad to collaborate with many other federal agencies in contributing to the development of the first-ever U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action, which advances a whole-of-government approach to preventing and ending gender-based violence – a “federal coordinated community response” – and it acts as a blueprint that continues to build on the lessons learned and achievements made through the efforts of survivors, advocates, and others in the field. OVW remains committed to strengthening collaboration across the federal government to advance these goals. Likewise, this framework can be used at the local, state, territorial, and Tribal level to strengthen a broader coordinated community response to prevent and end GBV.
Similarly, all of us must apply an open, collaborative lens to our work by inviting everyone – our families, neighbors, coworkers, and communities – to be part of the effort to end GBV. Addressing the underlying drivers of GBV by emphasizing prevention is critical to changing the social norms that perpetuate violence: a goal that is only possible by enlisting people from all walks of life in our work to reduce risk factors and promote protective factors wherever people live, work, learn, socialize, and play.
It is only by embracing a whole-of-society approach that we will be able to prevent GBV, support survivors, and hold offenders accountable. I have seen firsthand in my work, both within and outside of OVW, the truth of this proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go farther, go together.” I am also reminded of the words of Dr. King and John Lewis calling on us all to work together toward a “beloved community” centered on love, justice, and solidarity. As I look toward the future, I am deeply grateful for all we have accomplished together, and I am confident that by continuing to expand this work together, we will collectively build a world that affirms the dignity, rights, and humanity of every individual; where gender-based violence and other forms of violence and oppression are not tolerated; and where healing and justice are accessible to all.