Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks on the 30th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act

Remarks as Delivered

Thank you, Rosie, for that generous introduction, and for everything you do for VAWA and for justice for violence against women. I am very honored to be able to welcome you to the Justice Department for the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

Three decades ago, VAWA transformed our national response to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. Its enactment marked a paradigm shift - not just in the way we address gender-based violence, but in the way we understand it.

I was serving as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General when VAWA was originally enacted in 1994. In that role, I had an all-too-clear picture of the way that domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking were often handled in police stations, prosecutors' offices, and courtrooms across the country.

As Attorney General Reno later described, many "representatives and participants in the criminal justice system looked at a domestic [violence] case and said, 'That's a domestic,' and [just turned their back on it.]"

That was so, even though at the time, as Congress found, one-third of women murdered in America - approximately 4,000 per year - were murdered by present or former spouses or partners.

The same was true of sexual assault. During VAWA hearings, survivors and experts testified about the devastating effect of prevailing attitudes that distinguished between rape by a stranger, as compared to rape by an acquaintance, a date, or a partner - and that frequently put the blame on the victim.

Congress found that women reported 100,000 rapes to law enforcement in 1990 - more than in any previous year in American history. That figure was estimated to represent only a third of the true number. Another two-thirds of victims declined to report to police. Fewer than half of the reports resulted in arrests.

VAWA has helped to change that perception and reality. The Act gave the federal government tools to intervene in a sphere that had previously been largely the domain of state and local enforcement. It created new resources and authority to prevent and prosecute these crimes - and to support survivors.

In so doing, it sent a message: gender-based and intimate-partner violence is not just a private matter, not just a local matter, but a national crisis - one that our country was no longer willing to tolerate.

Today, officers, prosecutors, judges, families, and society at large understand what should have always been clear: domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking are violent crimes. They cannot be ignored as somehow distinct or private. Today, we recognize that they are among the most serious crimes that our society faces.

We recognize the devastating, lifelong effects that gender-based violence can have on both the physical and mental well-being of survivors.

We recognize that domestic violence calls are among the most dangerous for first responders and victims alike.

We recognize that those who have engaged in sexual or domestic violence are far more likely to harm both current and future partners and children - as well as being a danger to the public at large.

We recognize that this danger multiplies when those individuals possess a firearm.

And we insist that the federal government has not just a duty, not just a role, but must intervene.

To return to the words that Attorney General Reno who said during VAWA's enactment: we recognize that addressing domestic and sexual violence must be a "linchpin[] in the attack on violent crime."

Today, as we take the opportunity to recognize the impact that VAWA has had on our country over the past 30 years, we also recognize what it took to ensure VAWA's passage in 1994 and its reauthorization in 2000, 2005, 2013, and 2022.

And we recognize that we would not be here today if not for the survivors who offered their powerful, and often heartbreaking, testimony to their communities, with reporters, and in congressional hearings.

They made real for lawmakers and the American public the toll these crimes take on women, men, children, families, and entire communities.

We also would not be here without the advocates and experts who worked to amplify survivors' stories and experiences and put forward solutions. They underscored the need for stronger protections to hold offenders accountable. And the need to increase access to services for victims in the aftermath of these terrible crimes.

Many of these advocates are here today. On behalf of the Justice Department and the American people, thank you.

Not yet - I have so much more to say.

The progress our country has made in addressing gender-based and intimate-partner violence is also the result of the work of professionals who have dedicated their lives to carrying out VAWA's promise over the past 30 years.

I want to thank the service providers on the front lines who work every day with survivors to ensure that they continue to have a voice, that they are believed, and that they receive the support they need to heal and rebuild their lives. You are true heroes.

I want to thank our criminal justice partners - law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges - who ensure that perpetrators are held accountable, that the rule of law is upheld, and that survivors are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.

And finally, I want to thank my colleagues here at the Department of Justice, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to implement VAWA's protections.

You develop policies and resources to improve investigations and prosecutions.

You administer millions of dollars in grant funds every year to support the protections and services that survivors need.

You enforce laws and prosecute cases in Indian Country, and advance efforts to end the crisis of missing or murdered Indigenous persons.

You defend federal law protections - including in the last Supreme Court Term, when you successfully defended the ban on firearm possession by individuals subject to civil protection orders. And so much more.

Although my position at DOJ in 1994 gave me a grim view into the treatment of gender-based crimes before VAWA, it also gave me a vantage point to see the shift that followed. In 1995, that meant being there as Janet Reno stood up the original Office on Violence Against Women.

Since its creation, OVW has awarded and administered more than $11 billion in grants and other funding to address domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.

I have had the opportunity to work with Rosie and her incredible OVW team - many of whom have been with the office since its founding. I am in awe of their passion, deep expertise, and commitment. I am moved by their relentless work to reach every person touched by these crimes, and to show by example that the Justice Department can be an effective and caring partner in this effort. Thank you, Rosie.

Today, we take stock of the progress that VAWA has advanced. But we also recognize that there is so much more to do.

The reality remains that, in the United States, more than one in three women experiences sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner within her lifetime. And Tribal and historically marginalized groups are disproportionately affected.

That is why it was so essential that Congress reauthorized VAWA in 2022. And it is why the Department of Justice remains committed to using every tool at our disposal to end domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking - and to support survivors.

As part of that effort, I announced this week that the Department is awarding a total of over $690 million in grants, all through programs created under VAWA.

Among these are awards of more than $171 million across all 50 states and six territories under the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grants Program. This program promotes a coordinated community response among law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, victim services organizations, and other community services to ensure the safety of survivors.

We are also awarding nearly $6 million under the Enhancing Investigation and Prosecution of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Initiative. These funds will be used to promote effective policing and prosecution strategies.

We are also leveraging the FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals, and our U.S. Attorneys' Offices throughout the country. Today, I designated an initial set of 78 communities across the country, with more to follow, where we will surge Department resources to combat firearm violence against intimate partners and children.

We will designate Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys to focus on this effort. And Justice Department agents and prosecutors will work hand in hand with community stakeholders to develop strategies and prioritize prosecutions for unlawful possession of a gun by those who have committed domestic violence offenses.

The program will build on the innovative initiatives that U.S. Attorneys' Offices are already leading to target domestic violence in their districts.

That includes the Western District of Oklahoma's Operation 922 program, which has charged hundreds of domestic abusers with federal firearms offenses to quickly remove abusers from the home, to protect the victims over whom the abusers exert control, and to safeguard law enforcement responding to domestic calls.

Together, we do everything, and we will do everything we can to get firearms out of the hands of those who have engaged in domestic abuse. In concert with our work to protect survivors and promote healing, this will save lives.

I know that for many of the people in this room, the success story of the Violence Against Women Act is personal. It reflects remarkable vision, decades of advocacy and hard work, steadfast commitment to survivors, and even triumph over personal tragedy.

To all of you, thank you. You have changed our world. You have saved, and you have improved countless lives.

l look forward to our continued work together.

Thank you for being here today.

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