Violence Against Women Act is Not What It Sounds Like

The United States House of Representatives, under GOP control, this week passed a piece of legislation that is not only redundant, but unconstitutional and irrelevant to its own stated purpose. The renewal of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was a welcome distraction to Democrats desiring to take the spotlight off of the budgetary nightmare that they’ve created, while perpetuating their false narrative of a Republican “war on women.”

Make no mistake: the whole VAWA bill and debate was designed to be a political battering ram to help dislodge Republicans from control of the House in two years. Let’s be clear: the Violence Against Women Act actually has little to nothing to do with preventing violence against women. Instead, it is a $600 million taxpayer-funded slush fund paid out to liberal advocacy organizations that are friendly to Democratic causes and Democratic candidates. It’s nothing more than a cover for federally funding Democratic congressional campaigns.

Though it’s pure political cover, it’s effectively structured to be all-but-undefeatable in a Congressional vote. I mean, who wants to be on record voting against something called the “Violence Against Women Act?” Doing so opens a member of Congress to charges of being anti-women, or for domestic violence, both of which would be ridiculous charges if the media didn’t parrot the talking point.

VAWA is an effective PR tool designed as a Trojan Horse for liberal causes that could not pass on their own.

In fact, since 1994 domestic violence has been virtually unfazed by this federal usurpation of state authority; the law hasn’t come close to any semblance of success in reducing domestic violence against women in this country. The most effective measures to protect women, like passing expansive right-to-carry reciprocity for CWP holders, have never see the light of day because they don’t fit the liberal orthodoxy. All the while, women are paraded out as political pawns so that liberal causes can be funded under the cloak of protection provided by “protecting women.”

The reality is that, prior to the 1994 authorization of the VAWA, every single state in the nation already had expansive domestic violence laws that effectively prosecuted perpetrators of such violence. Thus, this federal law was not only an attempt at political cover, but redundant of state laws already in place.

This year’s re-authorization made the VAWA more political, and less effective, than ever before. By loosening the standards of domestic violence to include arguments between couples, it has reinforced the offensive notion that women are helpless and indefensible without government assistance, and that men are just jumping at the chance to domestically abuse women.

Such stereotypes divide Americans, not to mention American couples, while achieving nothing in terms of security. Additionally, new language was added to allow for special VAWA prosecutions for alleged crimes against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals. Political correctness has further poisoned an already poisoned law.

I would have voted against the re-authorization of the VAWA, not because I’m part of some grand conservative conspiracy against women, but because I believe in protecting women, both physically and from political exploitation. I support my friend Congressman Trey Gowdy’s strong and principled stand against this politically driven VAWA, and in favor of real women’s rights in South Carolina and the United States of America.