Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022
A BILL
To reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Universal definitions and grant conditions
in subsection (a)—
in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “In this title” and inserting “In this title, for the purpose of grants authorized under this title”;
by redesignating paragraphs (43) through (45) as paragraphs (50) through (52), respectively;
by redesignating paragraphs (34) through (42) as paragraphs (41) through (49), respectively;
by redesignating paragraphs (26) through (33) as paragraphs (32) through (39), respectively;
by redesignating paragraphs (18) through (25) as paragraphs (23) through (30), respectively;
by redesignating paragraphs (16) and (17) as paragraphs (22) and (21), respectively, and transferring paragraph (22), as so redesignated, so as to appear before paragraph (23), as so redesignated;
by redesignating paragraphs (12) through (15) as paragraphs (17) through (20), respectively;
by redesignating paragraph (11) as paragraph (14);
by redesignating paragraphs (9) and (10) as paragraphs (10) and (11), respectively;
by redesignating paragraph (8) as paragraph (12), and transferring it to appear after paragraph (11), as so redesignated;
by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs (8) and (9), respectively;
by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (7), and transferring it to appear before paragraph (8), as so redesignated;
by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs (5) and (4), respectively, and transferring paragraph (4), as so redesignated, so as to appear after paragraph (3);
by redesignating paragraph (1) as paragraph (2);
by inserting before paragraph (2), as so redesignated, the following:
“(1) Abuse in later life—The term abuse in later life—
“(A) means—
“(i) neglect, abandonment, economic abuse, or willful harm of an adult aged 50 or older by an individual in an ongoing relationship of trust with the victim; or
“(ii) domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking of an adult aged 50 or older by any individual; and
“(B) does not include self-neglect.”
by inserting after paragraph (5), as so redesignated, the following:
“(6) Court-based personnel; court-related personnel—The terms court-based personnel and court-related personnel mean individuals working in the court, whether paid or volunteer, including—
“(A) clerks, special masters, domestic relations officers, administrators, mediators, custody evaluators, guardians ad litem, lawyers, negotiators, probation, parole, interpreters, victim assistants, victim advocates, and judicial, administrative, or any other professionals or personnel similarly involved in the legal process;
“(B) court security personnel;
“(C) personnel working in related supplementary offices or programs (such as child support enforcement); and
“(D) any other court-based or community-based personnel having responsibilities or authority to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking in the court system.”
in paragraph (12), as so redesignated, by striking “includes felony” and all that follows through “jurisdiction.” and inserting the following:
“(A) is a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, or person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim;
“(B) is cohabitating, or has cohabitated, with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner;
“(C) shares a child in common with the victim; or
“(D) commits acts against a youth or adult victim who is protected from those acts under the family or domestic violence laws of the jurisdiction.”
by inserting after paragraph (12), as so redesignated, the following:
“(13) Economic abuse—The term economic abuse, in the context of domestic violence, dating violence, and abuse in later life, means behavior that is coercive, deceptive, or unreasonably controls or restrains a person’s ability to acquire, use, or maintain economic resources to which they are entitled, including using coercion, fraud, or manipulation to—
“(A) restrict a person’s access to money, assets, credit, or financial information;
“(B) unfairly use a person’s personal economic resources, including money, assets, and credit, for one’s own advantage; or
“(C) exert undue influence over a person’s financial and economic behavior or decisions, including forcing default on joint or other financial obligations, exploiting powers of attorney, guardianship, or conservatorship, or failing or neglecting to act in the best interests of a person to whom one has a fiduciary duty.”
by inserting after paragraph (14), as so redesignated, the following:
“(15) Female genital mutilation or cutting—The term female genital mutilation or cutting has the meaning given such term in section 116 of title 18, United States Code.
“(16) Forced marriage—The term forced marriage means a marriage to which 1 or both parties do not or cannot consent, and in which 1 or more elements of force, fraud, or coercion is present. Forced marriage can be both a cause and a consequence of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking.”
by striking paragraph (17), as so redesignated, and inserting the following:
“(17) Homeless—The term homeless has the meaning given such term in section 41403.”
in paragraph (22), as so redesignated—
in the heading, by inserting “; Indian Tribe” after “tribe”; and
by striking “term Indian tribe means” and inserting “terms Indian tribe and Indian Tribe mean”;
by striking paragraph (24), as so redesignated, and inserting the following:
“(24) Legal assistance
“(A) Definition—The term legal assistance means assistance provided by or under the direct supervision of a person described in subparagraph (B) to an adult, youth, or child victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking relating to a matter described in subparagraph (C).
“(B) Person described—A person described in this subparagraph is—
“(i) a licensed attorney;
“(ii) in immigration proceedings, a Board of Immigration Appeals accredited representative;
“(iii) in claims of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a representative authorized by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or
“(iv) any person who functions as an attorney or lay advocate in tribal court.
“(C) Matter described—A matter described in this subparagraph is a matter relating to—
“(i) divorce, parental rights, child support, Tribal, territorial, immigration, employment, administrative agency, housing, campus, education, healthcare, privacy, contract, consumer, civil rights, protection or other injunctive proceedings, related enforcement proceedings, and other similar matters;
“(ii) criminal justice investigations, prosecutions, and post-conviction matters (including sentencing, parole, and probation) that impact the victim’s safety, privacy, or other interests as a victim;
“(iii) alternative dispute resolution, restorative practices, or other processes intended to promote victim safety, privacy, and autonomy, and offender accountability, regardless of court involvement; or
“(iv) with respect to a conviction of a victim relating to or arising from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or sex trafficking victimization of the victim, post-conviction relief proceedings in State, local, Tribal, or territorial court.
“(D) Intake or referral—For purposes of this paragraph, intake or referral, by itself, does not constitute legal assistance.”
by inserting after paragraph (30), as so redesignated, the following:
“(31) Restorative practice—The term restorative practice means a practice relating to a specific harm that—
“(A) is community-based;
“(B) is initiated voluntarily at the request of the victim of the harm;
“(C) involves (on an ongoing voluntary basis and without any evidence of coercion or intimidation of any victim of the harm)—
“(i) any individual who committed the harm;
“(ii) any victim of the harm; and
“(iii) the community affected by the harm through 1 or more representatives of the community;
“(D) shall include and has the goal of—
“(i) collectively seeking accountability from each individual who committed the harm;
“(ii) developing a written process whereby each individual who committed the harm will take responsibility for the actions that caused harm to each victim of the harm; and
“(iii) developing a written course of action plan—
“(I) that is responsive to the needs of any victim of the harm; and
“(II) upon which any victim, any individual who committed the harm, and the community agree; and
“(E) is conducted in a victim services framework that protects the safety and supports the autonomy of each victim of the harm and the community.”
by inserting after paragraph (39), as so redesignated, the following:
“(40) Technological abuse—The term technological abuse means an act or pattern of behavior that occurs within domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence or stalking and is intended to harm, threaten, intimidate, control, stalk, harass, impersonate, exploit, extort, or monitor, except as otherwise permitted by law, another person, that occurs using any form of technology, including but not limited to: internet enabled devices, online spaces and platforms, computers, mobile devices, cameras and imaging programs, apps, location tracking devices, or communication technologies, or any other emerging technologies.”
in paragraph (50), as so redesignated, by inserting “legal assistance and” before “legal advocacy”; and
in subsection (b)—
in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the following:
“(H) Death of the party whose privacy had been protected—In the event of the death of any victim whose confidentiality and privacy is required to be protected under this subsection, grantees and subgrantees may share personally identifying information or individual information that is collected about deceased victims being sought for a fatality review to the extent permitted by their jurisdiction’s law and only if the following conditions are met:
“(i) The underlying objectives of the fatality review are to prevent future deaths, enhance victim safety, and increase offender accountability.
“(ii) The fatality review includes policies and protocols to protect identifying information, including identifying information about the victim’s children, from further release outside the fatality review team.
“(iii) The grantee or subgrantee makes a reasonable effort to get a release from the victim’s personal representative (if one has been appointed) and from any surviving minor children or the guardian of such children (but not if the guardian is the abuser of the deceased parent), if the children are not capable of knowingly consenting.
“(iv) The information released is limited to that which is necessary for the purposes of the fatality review.”
in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and inserting
“(A) the confidentiality and privacy requirements of this title are maintained; and
“(B) personally identifying information about adult, youth, and child victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking is not requested or included in any such collaboration or information-sharing.”
in paragraph (11)—
by striking “Of the total” and inserting the following:
“(A) In general—Of the total”
by adding at the end the following:
“(B) Requirement—The Office on Violence Against Women shall make all technical assistance available as broadly as possible to any appropriate grantees, subgrantees, potential grantees, or other entities without regard to whether the entity has received funding from the Office on Violence Against Women for a particular program or project, with priority given to recipients awarded a grant before the date of enactment of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022.”
in paragraph (14)—
by striking “services and assistance to victims” and inserting “services and assistance to—
“(A) victims”
by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(B) adult survivors of child sexual abuse; and
“(C) victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking who are also victims of female genital mutilation or cutting, or forced marriage.”
by striking paragraph (15);
by redesignating paragraph (16) as paragraph (15); and
in paragraph (15), as so redesignated—
in subparagraph (A), by striking clause (iii) and inserting the following:
“(iii) Technical assistance—A recipient of grant funds under this Act that is found to have an unresolved audit finding shall be eligible to receive prompt, individualized technical assistance to resolve the audit finding and to prevent future findings, for a period not to exceed the following 2 fiscal years.”
in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking “$20,000” and inserting “$100,000” and by inserting “the Director or Principal Deputy Director of the Office on Violence Against Women or” before “the Deputy Attorney General”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(16) Innovation fund—Of the amounts appropriated to carry out this title, not more than 1 percent shall be made available for pilot projects, demonstration projects, and special initiatives designed to improve Federal, State, local, Tribal, and other community responses to gender-based violence.”
Definitions and grant conditions— Section 40002 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291) shall apply to this Act and any grant program authorized under this Act.
Sec. 3 Agency and Department Coordination
Each head of an Executive department (as defined in section 101 of title 5, United States Code) responsible for carrying out a program under this Act, the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (title IV of Public Law 103–322; 108 Stat. 1902), the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 (division B of Public Law 106–386; 114 Stat. 1491), the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (title IX of Public Law 109–162; 119 Stat. 3080), or the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Public Law 113–4; 127 Stat. 54) may coordinate and collaborate on the prevention of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, including sharing best practices and efficient use of resources and technology for victims and those seeking assistance from the Federal Government.
Sec. 4 Effective date
In general— Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall not take effect until October 1 of the first fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment of this Act.
Effective on date of enactment— Sections 106, 107, 304, 606, 803, and 1306 and any amendments made by such sections shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 5 Sense of Congress
Sec. 6 Severability
If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provisions or amendment to any other person or circumstance, shall not be affected.