Shaheen Statement on Reports that Trump Plans to Eliminate the Office of Violence Against Women

(Washington, DC)— U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), lead Democrat of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, released the following statement in reaction to reports that the Trump Administration plans to eliminate the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice as part of widespread cuts at federal agencies.

“The suggestion that the Trump Administration plans to eliminate the Office of Violence Against Women is extremely disturbing,” said Senator Shaheen. “Violence against women in a serious threat in homes and communities across the country: one in three women in the U.S. have been physically abused by an intimate partner and one out of every five American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape. These statistics should alarm the President and his Administration. The bipartisan Violence Against Women Act is a proven tool to combat domestic and sexual violence, and its success doesn’t mean the job is done – it means law is working. I will not stand by if this Administration intends on eliminating programs that help survivors of domestic and sexual violence."

The Office on Violence Against Women, authorized by the Violence Against Women Act that was originally signed into law in 1994 with broad bipartisan support, administers grants to programs aimed at reducing domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking by strengthening services to victims and holding offenders accountable. A report released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics showed that between 1993 to 2010, spanning nearly two decades after the Violence Against Women Act was signed into law, the overall rate of intimate partner violence in the U.S. declined by 64 percent. ?