The National Institute of Justice Commemorates the 15th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act
In 1994, the U.S. Congress enacted the Violence Against Women Act, a comprehensive legislative package that marked the first major investment by the federal government in state and local efforts to address violence against women. VAWA recognized the devastating consequences that violence has on women, families and society as a whole. VAWA also acknowledged that violence against women requires specialized responses to address unique barriers that prevent victims from seeking assistance from the justice system.
The Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (VAWA 2005) further improved legal tools and grant programs addressing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. With the help of VAWA funding, NIJ has sponsored several research grants whose findings have further illustrated the challenges and potential solutions to ending these crimes.
NIJ proudly joins the Office on Violence Against Women in commemorating 15 years of working together to end gender-based violence.
The following NIJ-sponsored research reports relevant to violence against women can be found on the NCJRS Web site:
- Practical Implications of Current Domestic Violence Research: For Law Enforcement, Prosecutors and Judges (pdf, 106 pages)
- Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Rape Victimization: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey (pdf, 46 pages)
- Research Results From a National Study of Intimate Partner Homicide: The Danger Assessment Instrument (From Violence Against Women and Family Violence: Developments in Research, Practice, and Policy) (pdf, 10 pages)
- Systems Change Analysis of SANE Programs: Identifying the Mediating Mechanisms of Criminal Justice System Impact: Project Summary (pdf, 26 pages)
- The Sexual Victimization of College Women (pdf, 47 pages)
- The Campus Sexual Assault (CSA) Study (pdf, 111 pages)
- Stalking: Its Role in Serious Domestic Violence Cases (pdf, 22 pages)
NIJ Journal No. 266, June 2010
NCJ 230411
