The News Journal on Wednesday editorialized on the still-urgent need for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which expired last fall. Senator Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and co-chair of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, has been the leading voice in the Senate on the reauthorization. On Tuesday, Senator Coons sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid calling for a floor vote to be scheduled on the bill.
There’s been a lot of debate these days about a war on women with regard to the role of government and their reproductive rights.
But a bill that directly targets the issue of violence against women has been sitting in the U.S. Senate since last fall. And it is grounded in certain merit.
On Tuesday Sen. Chris Coons pushed his colleagues to stop dawdling and reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.
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“Thanks in large part to VAWA, we have made great inroads in the fight to combat these crimes — the rate of intimate partner violence against women has declined by 53 percent and there has been a similar decline in violence against men,” wrote Sen. Coons. “Intimate partner violence resulting in death has decreased by 29 percent.”
Locally, VAWA funds paid for law enforcement officials to attend a domestic violence training conference, where they learned about cutting-edge offender risk assessment techniques. As a result, their attendance culminated in passage of a new statewide anti-strangulation law and helped make Delaware a leader in progressive domestic violence legislation.
Click here to read the full editorial on The News Journal’s website.
Click here to read the letter Senator Coons sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urging for VAWA reauthorization