Violence Against Women Act of 1993

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Safe Streets for Women

Subtitle A: Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants to Reduce

Violent Crimes Against Women

Subtitle B: Rape Prevention Programs

Subtitle C: Victim Compensation

Subtitle D: Safe Campuses for Women

Title II: Safe Homes for Women

Subtitle A: Interstate Enforcement

Subtitle B: Arrest in Domestic Violence Cases

Subtitle C: Domestic Violence

Subtitle D: Protection for Immigrant Women

Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions

Subtitle A: Reports

Subtitle B: Justice Department Task Force on Violence

Against Women

Subtitle C: STD Testing

Subtitle D: Grant Programs

Title IV: Equal Justice for Women in the Courts

Subtitle A: Education and Training for Judge and Court

Personnel in State Courts

Subtitle B: Education and Training for Judges and Court

Personnel in Federal Courts

Subtitle C: Evidentiary Rules

Violence Against Women Act of 1993 - Title I: Safe Streets for Women - Safe Streets for Women Act of 1993 - Subtitle A: Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants to Reduce Violent Crimes Against Women - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Omnibus Act) to: (1) authorize the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) in order to reduce the rate of violent crime against women to make grants to States, Indian tribes, units of local government, tribal organizations, and nonprofit nongovernmental domestic violence and sexual assault victim services programs in the States or Indian country; and (2) the Attorney General to request any Federal agency, with or without reimbursement, to use its authorities and resources to support such State, tribal, and local efforts. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 112) Specifies that no State is entitled to funds under this title unless the State: (1) incurs the full cost of forensic medical exams for victims of sexual assault; (2) certifies that their laws, policies, and practices do not require, in connection with the prosecution of any domestic violence offense, that the abused bear costs associated with the filing of criminal charges or with the issuance or service of a warrant, protection order, or witness subpoena; and (3) can certify that its laws and policies treat sex offenses committed by offenders who are known to, cohabitants of, social companions of, or related by blood or marriage to, the victim no less severely than sex offenses committed by offenders who are strangers to the victim.

Subtitle B: Rape Prevention Programs - Chapter 1: Rape Prevention Grants - Amends the Omnibus Act to authorize the Director to make education and prevention grants to reduce sexual assaults against women. Authorizes appropriations.

Chapter 2: Offender Training and Information Programs - Directs the: (1) National Institute of Justice to establish criteria and develop training programs to assist probation and parole officer and other personnel who work with released sex offenders in the areas of case management, supervision, and relapse prevention; and (2) Attorney General to compile information regarding sex offender treatment programs and ensure that information regarding treatment programs in the community into which a convicted sex offender is released is made available to persons imprisoned in Federal penal or correctional institutions for sexual abuse offenses, including halfway houses and psychiatric institutions.

Subtitle C: Victim Compensation - Amends the Federal criminal code to require that a court order restitution for violations of Federal sexual abuse laws, with exceptions. Includes within such restitution attorney fees plus costs incurred in obtaining a civil protection order, temporary housing, transportation, necessary child care, and language translation services.

Subtitle D: Safe Campuses for Women - Directs the Attorney General to provide for a national baseline study to examine the scope of the problem of campus sexual assaults and the effectiveness of institutional and legal policies in addressing such crimes and protecting victims. Authorizes appropriations.

Title II: Safe Homes for Women - Safe Homes for Women Act - Subtitle A: Interstate Enforcement - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties for traveling across a State line with the intent to: (1) contact that person's spouse or intimate partner and, in the course of such contact, intentionally committing a crime of violence causing bodily injury to such spouse or partner; and (2) engage in conduct that violates a protection order, any portion of which involves protection against credible threats of violence, repeated harassment, or bodily injury, to the person or persons for whom the protection order was issued and violates that portion of such order, or that would violate such order if the conduct occurred in the jurisdiction in which the order was issued and engaging in such conduct.

Requires that in any proceeding for the purpose of determining whether a defendant charged shall be released pending trial, or the conditions of such release, the alleged victim be given an opportunity to be heard regarding the danger posed by the defendant.

Mandates that a court order restitution to the victim of an offense under this Act, with exceptions.

Requires, provided that certain conditions are met, that a protection order issued by the court of one State or Indian tribe be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State or tribe.

Subtitle B: Arrest in Domestic Violence Cases - Amends the Omnibus Act to authorize the Director to make grants to eligible States, Indian tribes, or units of local government to encourage arrest policies in domestic violence cases, including mandatory arrest programs for protective order violations and improving judicial handling of domestic violence cases. Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle C: Domestic Violence - Domestic Violence Firearm Prevention Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the sale or other disposal of firearms or ammunition to, or the receipt of firearms or ammunition by, persons convicted of offenses involving domestic abuse.

Subtitle D: Protection for Immigrant Women - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow an alien spouse to self-petition for immediate relative or second preference status if the alien demonstrates to the Attorney General that: (1) the alien is residing in the United States, the marriage between the alien and the spouse was entered into in good faith by the alien, and during the marriage the alien or child of the alien has been battered by or has been the subject of extreme cruelty perpetrated by the alien's spouse; or (2) the alien is residing in the United States with the alien's spouse, the alien has been married to and residing with the spouse for not less than three years, and the alien's spouse has failed to file such a petition on behalf of the alien.

Provides that in the case of abused spouses and abused children who are self-petitioning divorce may not be the basis for revocation of the petition. (Under current law and regulations, divorce results in the automatic revocation of an immediate relative and a second preference petition.)

(Sec. 242) Directs the Attorney General, in acting on spousal waiver applications, to consider any credible evidence submitted in support of the application (whether or not the evidence is supported by an evaluation of a licensed mental health professional). Specifies that the determination of what evidence is credible and the weight to be given the evidence shall be within the sole discretion of the Attorney General.

(Sec. 243) Waives the current seven-year residence requirement to apply for suspension of deportation. Makes suspension of deportation available to alien spouses and children who have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the United States by a spouse or parent who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident, provided that the alien spouse or child proves that he or she is a person of good moral character and that deportation would result in extreme hardship.

Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Subtitle A: Reports - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) conduct a study of the means by which abusive spouses may obtain information concerning the addresses or locations of estranged or former spouses, and transmit to the Congress a report based on the study; and (2) submit to the Congress a report and recommendations on problems of recordkeeping of criminal complaints involving domestic violence.

Subtitle B: Justice Department Task Force on Violence Against Women - Directs the Attorney General to establish an Attorney General's Task Force on Violence Against Women to review Federal, State, and local strategies for preventing and punishing violent crimes against women and to make recommendations to improve the response to such crimes. Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle C: STD Testing - Amends the Victims' Rights and Restitution Act of 1990 to direct the Attorney General to authorize the Director of the Office of Victims of Crime to provide for the payment of the cost of up to two tests of the victim for sexually transmitted diseases during the 12 months following sexual assaults that pose a risk of transmission, and the cost of a counseling session by a medically trained professional on the accuracy of such tests and the risk of transmission of such diseases to the victim as the result of the assault.

Subtitle D: Grant Programs - Directs the Attorney General to provide a grant to a nonprofit private organization to establish and operate a national, toll-free telephone hotline to provide information and assistance to victims of domestic violence. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 332) Amends the Omnibus Act to require the Director of the BJA to provide grants to establish projects in local communities involving many sectors of each community to coordinate intervention and prevention of domestic violence. Authorizes appropriations.

Title IV: Equal Justice for Women in the Courts - Subtitle A: Education and Training for Judge and Court Personnel in State Courts - Authorizes the State Justice Institute (SJI) to award grants for the purpose of developing, testing, presenting, and disseminating model programs to be used by States in training judges and court personnel in the laws of the State on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by gender.

(Sec. 403) Directs the SJI to ensure that such model programs are developed with the participation of law enforcement officials, public and private nonprofit victim advocates, legal experts, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and recognized experts on gender bias in the courts.

(Sec. 404) Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle B: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in Federal Courts - Encourages the circuit judicial councils to conduct studies of the instances of gender bias in their respective circuits. Directs the: (1) Judicial Conference of the United States to designate an entity within the judicial branch to act as a clearinghouse to disseminate any reports and materials issued by gender bias task forces; and (2) Federal Judicial Center to disseminate information on issues relating to gender bias in the courts.

(Sec. 412) Authorizes appropriations to: (1) the Salaries and Expenses Account of the Courts of Appeals, District Courts, and other Judicial Services; (2) the Federal Judicial Center; and (3) the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Directs the Judicial Conference to allocate funds to Federal circuit courts that undertake their own studies of gender bias or implement reforms recommended as a result of such studies in their own or other circuits.

Subtitle C: Evidentiary Rules - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the executive branch, working through the SJI, should examine programs which would allow the States to consider whether expert testimony regarding battered women's syndrome should be admissible by the defendant in criminal trials and specified related issues.