Violence Against Women Veterans Act

Violence Against Women Veterans Act

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to take actions to improve assistance to veterans who experience domestic violence or sexual assault.

Specifically, the bill requires the VA to implement a program to assist veterans who have experienced or are experiencing domestic violence or sexual assault in accessing VA benefits. The VA shall carry out the program in partnership with domestic violence shelters and programs, rape crisis centers, state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions, and other appropriate service providers. The bill authorizes the VA to establish local coordinators to provide outreach under the program to effectively assist veterans who have experienced domestic violence or sexual assault.

The VA must consult with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a national task force to develop a comprehensive national program to address domestic violence and sexual assault among veterans by integrating VA facilities, services, and benefits into existing networks of community-based domestic violence and sexual assault services.

The VA must consult with DOJ to conduct a national baseline study to examine the scope of the problem of domestic violence and sexual assault among veterans and spouses of veterans.

Finally, the bill requires the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans to include in its biennial report an assessment of the effects of intimate partner violence on women veterans.