[continued from previous message]   
      
   In a TIME opinion piece written for the 20th anniversary of the act, Biden   
   described the bill as his “proudest legislative accomplishment,” arguing   
   that it had helped to change cultural norms.  “Abuse is violent and ugly and   
   today there is rightful    
   public outrage over it.  It matters that the American people have sent a clear   
   message: you’re a coward for raising a hand to a woman or child — and   
   you’re complicit if you fail to condemn it,” Biden wrote.   
      
   In Nourse’s opinion, then-Senator Biden was motivated to push for the bill   
   because of his empathy for women who had approached him about the idea, and   
   those who testified in the hearings in the House and Senate.   
      
   Recently, as he has made another run for the White House, Biden has drawn   
   criticism for his treatment of women after several have come forward to say   
   that the former Vice President made them uncomfortable by touching or   
   awkwardly kissing them.  As the    
   women’s accounts emerged, Biden released a video in which he promised to be   
   “more mindful” of his treatment of women in the future, but said that the   
   way had acted in the past had been his way of connecting with people.  He was   
   criticized a few    
   days later when he seemed to make light of the allegations by cracking jokes   
   about physical contact.   
      
   In terms of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act, Nourse says   
   Biden’s empathy was an asset.   
      
   “He’s criticized for his emotion and his empathy.  But it also means he   
   has grit; when it gets in that he’s got to do something, he’s not taking   
   no for an answer,” Nourse says. “That bill could only have been passed   
   because of Joe Biden.”   
      
      
   Is VAWA still in effect?   
      
   In 2000, in United States v. Morrison, the Supreme Court threw out what Nourse   
   describes as one of the most important provisions of the Act — the Civil   
   Rights Remedies — on the grounds that Congress had overstepped its authority   
   under the    
   Constitution’s Commerce Clause (because the statute isn’t relevant to   
   interstate commerce) and the 14th Amendment (because the statute didn’t   
   apply to harm caused by a state).  Under the original act, that provision   
   allowed women to challenge    
   gender-based crimes in civil court.   
      
   Nourse says that she feels their decision was “deeply wrong.”  When a   
   civil-rights remedy is in place, Nourse says, “It gives more power to the   
   woman to be able to go in and call her abuser to account.”   
      
   Nevertheless, Goldfarb says that even though the provision was removed from   
   VAWA, along with the rest of the act, it contributed to the way violence   
   against women is perceived in American society.   
      
   And despite the Supreme Court decision, the Violence Against Women Act has   
   been repeatedly renewed, and also expanded, since 1994.  The most recent   
   reauthorization has passed the House but is awaiting action in the Senate.   
      
   Reauthorizations of the Act have included provisions to support particularly   
   vulnerable groups, including Native Americans, the LGBT community and   
   immigrant women.   
      
   For instance, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013   
   authorized Native American tribes to prosecute domestic violence crimes,   
   required colleges to report to staff and students about dating violence and   
   sexual-assault crimes, and provided    
   grant funding for testing backlogged rape kits.   
      
   “Even after the civil-rights provision was struck down by the Supreme Court   
   in 2000, the idea that violence is a source of women’s inequality is I think   
   now deeply ingrained in general understanding of this issue,” Goldfarb   
   says.  “I think the    
   Violence Against Women Act represents a significant step forward not only for   
   the specific programs that it created, and the funding that it provided, but   
   also for the way in which it altered the country’s view of violence against   
   women as a    
   significant national problem.”   
                                                        ===================   
      
   https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/joe-biden-vawa.j   
   g?w=800&quality=85   
      
   Contemplatively looks out the car window during a planning meeting with staff,   
   Vice President Joe Biden is driven back to the White House after speaking to   
   lawmakers, woman against violence advocates, and constituents concerning   
   reducing domestic    
   violence homicides in Rockville, Md., on March 13, 2013.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)