IowaCASA Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act

This week, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). We use this time to recognize the right of every individual in America and in the world to be free from violence and fear.

Before this law was passed, there was very little federal funding for sexual assault or domestic violence centers. Our government didn’t seem to consider services for victims a national priority. And in some ways, the government’s views merely reflected society’s at the time.

Sexual assault was not something that people believed happened in their town, in their community. But it did, and it still does. If a woman was raped or beaten by her husband authorities assumed she must have deserved it, and that the husband was well within his rights to teach her a lesson. Rape victims weren’t believed when they came forward to report their crime.  It wasn’t until 1990 when then Senate Judiciary Committee member, Joe Biden, decided to introduce VAWA. Biden used health care professionals and advocates to testify in favor of the act, but it wasn’t until the committee heard the stories of courageous survivors that minds started to change. This was one of the first steps that the government took to show that ending gender-based violence and serving victims was a national commitment. On September 13, 1994, President Clinton signed the bill into law, and with each reauthorization, improvements have been made including more protection for women, Native Americans and the LGBTQ community.

Although a lot has improved since the Violence Against Women Act has come into play, there is still room for improvement. One in five women  in America experiences rape or attempted rape. Myths  like “she deserved it” or “she wore a short skirt” still fogs our criminal justice system making it difficult to charge perpetrators. So let’s use this week to appreciate how far we’ve come, and how far we still have to go. Happy 20th anniversary, VAWA!

Taking Action & Speaking Out

Most new college students are worried about making new friends, passing challenging classes, or paying for school, right? Well, those were some of the things that crossed my mind when I went away to college. I was six hours away from home with no close friends or family. By the time I graduated I made lots of new friends and I passed all of my classes. I had nothing to worry about after all! Or was I just worried about the wrong thing? Now that I am a college graduate and more aware of sexual assault and violence against women on campus, I realize that student loans should’ve been the least of my worries.

Emma Sulkowicz, a senior in the class of 2015 at Columbia University’s undergraduate school, Columbia College, was a new college freshman just like I was four years ago when she was raped. Her assault happened in her dorm room on her twin-size mattress. When her university’s police didn’t help her, and the university didn’t punish the perpetrator, she decided to try something a bit different. Today she uses her mattress to symbolize the weight that she carries every day due to her rape. Sulkowicz plans to carry her mattress with her everywhere she goes until her school expels her rapist.

Yes, she is carrying her mattress everywhere to get attention. 1 in 5 women in American will face sexual assault while attending college, a big problem that Sulkowocz hopes to shed light on.  The mattress symbolizes the weight that every woman or man who has been raped or sexually assaulted has to carry. Nothing has been done to Sulkowocz’s rapist while Sulkowocz has to spend the rest of her college career in fear, worrying about what will happen the next time she sees her rapist.  Not all women cope with their assault the way Sulkowicz does.Healing comes in all shapes and sizes. Some read, some go into hiding, some like to push the memory into the back of their mind to try and forget about it. But each and every victim of assault has a right to cope in whatever way feels best for them.