Biden outlines 'personal' fight against domestic violence

Three decades after passing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), President Biden plans to commemorate its signing at the White House on Thursday and announce actions that the Biden-Harris administration will take to address gender-based violence. 

“My dad was a gentle, kind man who always taught me to stand up to the abuse of power—whether psychological, economic, or physical. That lesson was the driving force behind my decision to create the Violence Against Women Act 30 years ago,” Biden wrote in an opinion piece for Glamour, highlighting his personal fight to end domestic abuse. 

“When I first introduced the Violence Against Women Act as a senator in 1990, too few thought the government had a role to play in ending violence against women. Domestic violence was considered a ‘family matter.’ It was wrong,” he added in the piece. 

The administration will reveal several plans to address gender-based violence, such as providing funds for programs to support survivors and youth exposed to violence, protections for people facing homelessness due to abuse, and resources to prevent online harassment and combat image-based sexual abuse. It will also encourage states to use federal funds to prevent abusers from having guns to further narrow the “boyfriend loophole.”  

In his opinion piece, Biden called on Congress to pass the International Violence Against Women Act, a global strategy to prevent violence against women and girls.  

“Congress must continue to build on the progress we have made under the Violence Against Women Act here in the United States, and pass the International Violence Against Women Act to strengthen justice and accountability for gender-based violence around the world. And we must each do our part at home, at work, in the military, in schools and on campuses, in communities, and online to prevent this from happening in the first place—and summon the courage to intervene when it does,” Biden wrote. 

Biden also noted the importance of the act’s reauthorization, which is required every five years – though, it’s faced some challenges in Congress. In 2019, it expired under former President Trump. It was reauthorized in 2022 with new provisions for survivors in tribal communities and identifying as LGBTQ+. 

Since the adoption of VAWA, Biden wrote that “according to the Department of Justice, between 1993 and 2022, the reported domestic violence rate dropped by 67 percent." 

“The work never stops,” Biden wrote. “But over the last 30 years, we’ve made tremendous progress.” 

Biden will make remarks Thursday evening at the White House. He wrote in the opinion piece that there will be several speakers, including survivors, advocates for indigenous and LGBTQ+ survivors, and a man who intervened to prevent assault while he was in college.