Controlling Violence Against Women: A Research Perspective on the 1994 VAWA's Criminal Justice Impacts

Abstract

The 1994 VAWA initiated a process whereby the implementation of evaluation research follows the development and implementation of criminal justice policies designed to protect victims of violence against women. It emerged from a relatively short history of research, most of which has not been rigorously evaluated. Writing about domestic violence in 1995, without explicit reference to the recently enacted Violence Against Women Act, Fagan (1996) noted that …research and evaluation on arrest and prosecution, civil or criminal protection orders, batterer treatment, and community interventions have generated weak or inconsistent evidence of deterrent effects on either repeat victimization or repeat offending. (p. 1) Fagan (1996) argued that most research conducted by 1995 had not addressed questions about the effectiveness of legal interventions in controlling violence. Not surprisingly, most policy research attends to how practitioners implement policy and enact their responsibilities. But today we expect more. We want to know the consequences of those activities for preventing crime and protecting victims. Congress recognized this need in 1996 when it required the Attorney General to "formulate and publish a unified national crime prevention research and evaluation strategy … regarding the impact and effectiveness of the crime and violence prevention initiatives…" (H.R. 2076), a mandate addressed in a Report to Congress by Sherman et al. (1997, 1998). Using standards for assessing "whether a program has succeeded in causing less crime" (Sherman 1997, p. 6), the authors argued for rigorous impact evaluations. With respect to programs funded under VAWA, the traditional concern for detecting and punishing crimes in the interest of justice should go further to evaluate the effectiveness of criminal justice policies in protecting victims. Of course, after just five years, research spawned by VAWA is only now beginning to appear in reports or articles likely to have an impact on policy. Indeed, apart from what guidance might be offered by research, policy makers and practitioners have barely had time to implement what they hope will be effective criminal justice programs initiated under VAWA's grants for local initiatives (U.S. Attorney General, 1999, II-18). Thus our report This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. 4 The movement to prevent domestic violence against women has roots in Colonial America, found new attention in the late Nineteenth Century, and was rediscovered in the early 1970's in political company with reforms against child abuse (Pleck, 1987). Concurrent with the movement against wife-beating, the Women's Liberation Movement responded against rape and sexual assault (Schechter, 1982). But while the political response to rape and sexual assault has cen...

Violence Against Women Research Post VAWA

“…Fagan's pointed comment regarding domestic violence research, as quoted in Ford et al (2002), is applicable to violence against women research as a whole:…”

A Review of the Effects of the Violence Against Women Act on Law Enforcement

“…Upon its enactment (and subsequent reauthorizations), VAWA sent the message to law enforcement officers and the criminal justice system that domestic and sexual violence is a serious problem in need of urgent national attention (Fine, 1998; Forde et al, 2002). VAWA sought to strengthen criminal justice responses to crimes against women.…”

“…VAWA sought to strengthen criminal justice responses to crimes against women. It has provided discretionary grant funding for law enforcement agencies to respond aggressively to gender-based violence (Forde et al, 2002). This funding has largely been administered by the Office on Violence against Women (OVW) under the U.S. Department of Justice and has focused in three main areas: 1) prevention, 2) investigations and prosecutions, and 3) victim services (OVW, 2020; Sacco, 2015).…”

“…The highest spending program funded by VAWA is through Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors (STOP) grants (Aday, 2015). STOP grants require funding to be used by local law enforcement agencies in any the following areas: “training for law enforcement or prosecution; special law enforcement or prosecution units; policy development for law enforcement or prosecution; development of data and communication systems; direct victim services; programs addressing stalking; or grants to [Native American] tribes” (Aron & Newmark, 1999, p. 235; see also Forde et al, 2002; OVW, 2020). These grants aim to improve law enforcement operations in a number of fundamental areas, including providing officer training, updating and improving agency policies, protocols, and services, and/or enhancing data collection systems to more effectively coordinate the response of law enforcement to reduce violence against women (Siskin & Domestic Violence Policy Division, 2001).…”

“…Although there was a general shift into the 1980s and 1990s that increased and standardized police response to domestic violence prior to the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994, there was little coordinated multiagency effort to respond to violence against women, including forms of sexual violence, domestic violence, and stalking (Forde et al, 2002). This lack of a consistent and comprehensive approach made it difficult for local law enforcement to effectively investigate and prevent domestic and sexual violence (Aday, 2015).…”