Americans Call for Major Reforms to Violence Against Women Act
A national survey commissioned by the Coalition to End Domestic Violence reveals a majority of Americans wants major changes to be made to the federal Violence Against Women Act. The survey, administered in late 2020, consisted of four questions addressing key areas of concern.
Each question is presented below, followed by key findings. Break-downs by sex are shown in parenthesis:
1. Mental Health Focus
The Violence Against Women Act, also known as “VAWA,” was designed to strengthen the criminal justice response to domestic violence. But many persons believe that the first step to stopping domestic violence should be different — to provide mental health services, anger management, alcohol treatment, and couples counseling. Along these lines, 46 state domestic violence coalitions recently endorsed a statement criticizing VAWA because of its excess focus on “increased policing, prosecution, and imprisonment as the primary solution to gender-based violence.”
- 56% of Americans believe “VAWA should create a system in which mental health services are used first, and criminal justice approaches reserved for the more severe or repeated cases of domestic violence” (Males: 55%; Females: 57%)
- Only 35% wanted VAWA to continue its current focus to “increase the number of arrests, prosecutions, and imprisonments” (Males: 33%; Females: 37%)
2. False Allegations
One of the side effects of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has been an increased number of false allegations. According to a recent survey, 8% of Americans report they have been falsely accused of domestic violence, sexual assault, or other form of abuse. False allegations can damage the reputation of the accused, lead to wrongful convictions, and harm the credibility of future victims.
- 54% of Americans believe “VAWA should mandate the prosecution of persons who knowingly make false allegations” (Males: 54%; Females: 54%)
- An additional 32% want VAWA to “tighten up definitions and strengthen standards of proof to discourage false allegations” (Males: 31%; Females: 33%)
3. Sex Discrimination
According to the Centers for Disease Control, each year there are 4.2 million male victims and 3.5 million female victims of domestic violence. In other words, more men than women are victims of domestic violence. But male victims are often excluded by Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)-funded programs.
- 50% of persons said VAWA should “remove all sex-discriminatory language and mandate the equitable treatment of male and female victims” (Males: 51%; Females: 49%)
- An additional 29% favor changing the name of the law to sex-neutral wording such as the “Violence Against Persons Act” (Males: 27%; Females: 31%)
4. Financial Waste and Fraud
Audits of programs funded by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) have documented widespread waste, fraud, and abuse. Department of Justice audits reveal that 72% of VAWA grantees were “generally non-compliant.” Earlier this year, it was learned that Tiffany Carr, former director of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, was paid $7.5 million in compensation over a 3-year period.
- 45% of Americans believe that the number of financial audits of VAWA grantees should be increased (Males: 46%; Females: 44%)
- An additional 41% favor a three-year funding ban on organizations that are generally non-compliant with auditing requirements. (Males: 40%; Females: 42%)
Survey Methods
Fieldwork was conducted December 22-29, 2020 by YouGov, a leading survey research organization. Data of the 2,458 survey respondents were weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population aged 18+. The survey was carried out online.
The full survey results, with break-downs by age, geographical region, race, education, marital status, parental status, income, political party, and political viewpoint are available online.
The Coalition to End Domestic Violence urges federal and state lawmakers to promptly implement the needed changes to the Violence Against Women Act.