On March 7^th, 2013, President Obama signed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), reauthorizing the legislation for five more years.[1] VAWA was first passed in 1994 to provide services and protect victims of domestic violence. Toward this goal, VAWA’s multiple provisions include:[2]

• A federal rape shield law
• Strengthened penalties for repeat sex offenders
• Improving law enforcement response to domestic violence through training and dedicated resources
• Funding for rape crisis centers and hotlines
• Funding for community violence prevention programs
• Provisions preventing discrimination against survivors in public housing
• Legal assistance for survivors of domestic violence[3]

VAWA has been reauthorized three times since 1994.[4][5] The latest reauthorization attempt began last year, but was held up by House Republicans due to their objections to the addition of specific protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered (LGBT) individuals, Native Americans, and immigrants.[6] The new provisions prohibited discrimination against LGBT individuals and closed jurisdictional loopholes that were putting women living on reservations at risk. It also added stalking to the list of crimes that would qualify individuals for a U-Visa, a temporary visa given to victims of serious crimes, allowing them to stay in the country and help prosecute the crime.[7]

The 112^th Congress failed to reauthorize VAWA at the end of the 2012 calendar year, but the legislation was quickly taken up at the beginning of the 113^th Congress. The Senate passed VAWA, with the new protections, by a vote of 78-22 on February 11, 2013.[8] The House originally attempted to pass a version without the new protections, but ultimately passed the Senate version by a vote of 286-138 on February 28, 2013.[9] The president signed the VAWA extension while surrounded by congressional leaders of the bill as well as Vice President Joe Biden, who first introduced the legislation when he was in the Senate in 1994.[10]