Working to protect women against violence should be a nonpartisan issue, right?

The federal Violence Against Women Act was established in 1994, and was reauthorized in 2000 and 2005. Up for renewal this year, a party line vote in committee showed that even an Act protecting women against violence will face partisan opposition these days. Senator John Cornyn joined eight other Republicans to oppose the Act, stating they were in favor of a version that was ‘more fiscally responsible.’

The Federal Violence Act aims to close loopholes in sex trafficking laws and alleviate the nationwide rape kit backlog. According to the Texas Council on Family Violence, in 2009 111 women were killed by their intimate partners. The numbers are only getting worse. In 2010, there were 142 victims of family violence that were killed by their intimate partners. In 2010, there were 19,007 cases of sexual assault in Texas. These frightening statistics explain why 73% of all Texans believe domestic violence is a serious problem. 

With a 10-8 vote in the Judiciary Committee, support groups are hoping to re-visit the amendments in search of finding a common bipartisan goal that does not jeopardize protection for women put forth in the Violence Against Women Act. We'll be watching this legislation to ensure that partisan politics can be set aside so that this common-sense legislation can be reauthorized.