Leader Floyd attends White House event marking 30th anniversary of landmark Violence Against Women Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Democratic Leader Kay Floyd
Capitol: (405) 521-5610
Kay.Floyd@oksenate.gov 

OKLAHOMA CITY – Senate Democratic Leader Kay Floyd was among hundreds of advocates, survivors, and officials invited to the White House this past week to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The landmark legislation was the first comprehensive federal law to focus on preventing and addressing violence against women and to provide justice and support for survivors.

“Because of VAWA, we saw a major shift in this country – instead of seeing domestic violence and sexual assault as a private matter, there was a growing recognition that these crimes were a violation of fundamental rights and dignity,” said Floyd, D-Oklahoma City. “Nationally, as a result of VAWA, between 1993 and 2022, annual domestic violence rates dropped by 67 percent and the rate of rapes and sexual assaults declined by 56 percent.”

Throughout her 12 years in the Oklahoma Legislature, Floyd has been the author of landmark legislation to better protect and assist victims of domestic violence and addressed Oklahoma’s rape kit testing backlog, helping more Oklahoma survivors get justice.

Floyd said the White House event was about more than simply celebrating past victories, with several initiatives unveiled to continue the fight against gender-based violence, harassment and abuse.

“Since the original VAWA was passed, new technologies have spurred the need to update laws and dedicate additional resources to fight crimes that didn’t even exist 30 years ago, like the ability to create deep-fake, nonconsensual pornographic videos,” Floyd said. “The Department of Justice will provide $690 million in Fiscal Year 2024 grant funding to help states, Tribes, law enforcement, victim advocates and community-based organizations better address gender-based violence, harassment and exploitation.”

Floyd said the federal funding will help support a range of priorities, including addressing the housing needs of survivors of human trafficking; promoting and strengthening prevention services and responses to stop violence before it occurs; supporting survivors of online harassment and abuse; improving trauma-informed and victim-centered investigations; and expanding pathways to justice for survivors.

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