VAWA 20th Anniversary Event – Washington DC

Vice President Joe Biden was the keynote speaker last Tuesday, September 9th, 2014 at an event held at the National Archives commemorating the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act, which he spearheaded. This legislation has provided advocacy, support and services to countless survivors of all forms violence. The event had special significance to Delawareans given Vice President Biden’s long history of public service to our state.

Further, recent high publicity instances of violence against women in the current news cycle highlight the importance of its recent renewal in 2013. The renewed act expanded federal protections to gays, lesbians and transgender individuals, Native Americans and immigrants.

Biden went on to say in his speech that he has not given up on reinstating the provision that survivors of violence can civilly pursue remedies against their attackers, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2000. Biden was recently quoted as saying, “You can’t talk about human rights and human dignity without talking about the right of every woman on the planet to be free from violence and free from fear.”

Below are some further news articles about the event:

TIME: http://time.com/3319325/joe-biden-violence-against-women/

Miami Herald: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/09/09/4338535/biden-honors-anniversary-of-law.html

CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/13/opinion/torre-soler-violence-against-women-act-anniversary/