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Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06) today released the following statement on the 30^th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act.

“30 years ago, Congress recognized the responsibility to protect survivors of domestic and sexual violence and passed the Violence Against Women Act. Two years ago, we reauthorized and modernized these critical, lifesaving protections to strengthen existing gender-based violence prevention and prosecution programs, expand access to services for survivors, and improve the criminal justice response to domestic violence cases.

“No woman, no child, no family should live in fear. This issue is personal to me. As someone who experienced violence in the home growing up, I know this scenario all too well. I remember the fear, the seeking help and no one responding because you didn’t acknowledge the problem or accept the reality of what happened behind closed doors.

“Much has changed since those days. We have broken down stigmas and more survivors are finding the courage to speak honestly, escape abusive situations and seek the support they need. We have made great progress in the last 30 years, but we can’t lose sight of the work we still have to do. I thank President Biden for his strong actions today to provide additional funding to address gender-based violence, meet the needs of survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking, address online harassment and abuse, keep guns out of the hands of abusers, and strengthen enforcement of provisions narrowing the boyfriend loophole. I remain committed to giving a voice to those who don’t have one, eradicating violence from communities across America, and supporting women, children, and families in their hardest times.”

Dingell has long been a leader in Congress in combating domestic violence. Dingell has led the Strengthening Protections for Domestic Violence and Stalking Survivors Act to close the boyfriend loophole and keep guns out of the hands of abusive dating partners and stalkers. In 2018, she established the Bipartisan Working Group to End Domestic Violence to bring together a bipartisan group of members to identify ways to strengthen resources and protections for survivors and their children.

The Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 included two provisions written by Dingell. The bipartisan VAWA Health provision strengthens the healthcare system’s identification, assessment and response to domestic violence, sexual assault and dating violence survivors with an expanded focus on accessing behavioral health and safety resources across the lifespan. The bipartisan E-SERVICE Act updates how survivors of domestic violence can obtain protection orders by establishing a pilot program grant to explore the electronic service of protection orders.

She has been working to address funding shortfalls in the Victims of Crime Act’s (VOCA) Crime Victims Fund (CVF), the largest source of federal grant funding for victim services organizations, including organizations supporting survivors of domestic and sexual violence, child abuse, stalking, and other crimes. 

In 2023, Dingell, along with Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick and Senator Amy Klobuchar filed an amicus brief in United States v. Rahimi asserting that Congress enacted a firearm prohibition for individuals subject to a restraining order nearly three decades ago with strong bipartisan support from even the staunchest defenders of Second Amendment Rights, and we must uphold these protections.

This April, Dingell led a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, urging the Commission to take proactive measures to address the threat of domestic abusers exploiting connectivity tools in vehicles to harass and intimidate their partners.

This year she co-led the Justice in Sentencing for Survivors Act, which authorizes the court to impose a sentence that is below the mandatory minimum if the offender’s crime is connected to their survivor status, and the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which bans the publication of non-consensual intimate images (also known as deepfakes) prohibits their distribution and creates a criminal penalty for doing so, and requires websites to have a removal process.