This week, President Biden signed into law the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Reauthorization Act of 2022, bipartisan legislation passed by Congress as part of the Omnibus appropriations package. The 2022 Reauthorization of VAWA strengthens the law to better serve the needs of survivors by improving services for survivors, including economic and housing resources, community-based restorative practices, and culturally-specific services, and addressing to the needs of diverse populations, such as LGBTQ individuals, people with disabilities, and young people. VAWA also improves the criminal justice and civil legal response, and increases access to safety and justice for Indigenous survivors.
We are also excited to share that this VAWA reauthorization increases authorization for culturally-specific services, creates a new OVW advisor on culturally-specific communities, and creates a new LGBTQ-specific grant program. We look forward to continue to working with you to implement VAWA to its full potential for our communities. If you have any questions, please reach out to Grace Huang, Policy Director, at ghuang@api-gbv.org.