Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 2000, and authorized over $175 million a year in Department of Health and Human Services funding for battered women's shelters, the national hotline, and other services. But the Administration's budget for FY 2005 proposes level funding - an amount that is already 26% below the authorized level of $129 million - the same amount it requested in 2003 and 2004, without even an adjustment for inflation. (National Women's Law Center, "Slip Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward," April 2004, Read it, PDF, 529 KB)

Federal law recognizes the needs of victims by giving battered women and other displaced family members priority access to federal low-income housing assistance programs, such as the Section 8 housing voucher program that helps families pay their rent. Section 8 is targeted for some of the deepest cuts in the Administration's FY 2005 budget. (National Women's Law Center, "Slip Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward," April 2004, Read it, PDF, 529 KB)

NCRW reported in April 2004 ("MISSING: Information About Women's Lives") that the U.S. Attorney General's Office had been withholding the release of a report on violence against women mandated by Congress in 2000. The report addresses discrimination against domestic violence victims in the workplace in the issuing and administration of insurance policies. Completed by the Women's Law Project, and approved in June 2003, as of October 2004 the report has yet to be released. (National Council for Research on Women, "Missing: Information About Women's Lives," April 2004, Read it)

For fact sheets:

Center for Women Policy Studies

Girls Incorporated

International Center for Research on Women

Legal Momentum

National Research Center for Women and Families

National Women’s Law Center

Wellesley Centers for Women

For links to reports, papers, and proceedings, click here to READ IT!