The Defund Movement Aims to Change the Policing and Prosecution of Domestic Violence

Lethality assessments have proven effective at avoiding domestic violence homicides and such a tool might have saved a Vermont woman who was murdered. The 11 questions help victims understand the danger they are in and also help law enforcement connect them with services. But officers in many counties in Vermont are either not using the tool or not doing it systematically even though an advocacy organization has pushed for its implementation and even when police chiefs embrace its use.

The Violence Against Women Act was billed as a way to make a patriarchal society, and policing profession in particular, take domestic violence more seriously. It encouraged policies making arrest of alleged abusers mandatory, even to the point of punishing victims who refused to cooperate in prosecutions. This has backfired on many victims, especially women of color who distrust police and their punitive approaches to solving family problems. The law also prioritizes punitive approaches in its awarding of federal grants, thus denying victim aid to women who do not wish to cooperate with arrests.

Ignoring the pleas of victim-aid groups and the examples set by other countries, the British government and courts failed to protect domestic violence victims during the pandemic. Italy, Spain, Germany, and New Zealand provided for emergency shelter for victims trapped at home with their abusers or made other preparations a formal part of their lockdown plans. But in England, where at least 26 deaths and multiple cases of abuse are blamed on the government’s failures, shelters overflowed and orders of protection went unenforced because of a lack of funding and effective planning.

The murder of a woman in Wisconsin highlights a lethality assessment tool for law enforcement to use that’s designed to help domestic victims and authorities understand how much danger victims might be in and help police connect them with services. It’s proven effective at helping those facing domestic violence take steps to reduce the chances they might be murdered by their partners. But getting it implemented, especially in rural areas where there may not be many resources for victims, has proven challenging with less than half of Wisconsin’s counties using it.

A New Way of Life gives formerly incarcerated women something that most did not get from prison: treatment for the trauma that so many incarcerated women suffered from domestic violence. As an antidote to a system geared to punishing wrongdoing without addressing its causes, New Way provides housing and supportive programs, many of which are taught by women with similar experiences. Some of the women tell their stories of lives repaired and families reunited thanks to New Way's interventions.

Among the many restorative justice programs in the U.S., the Domestic Violence Safe Dialogue program was one of the few to arrange face-to-face dialogue between survivors and men who had violently abused women. This form of surrogate dialogue – the pairings are between strangers – helps two people who want to change but can't do it alone. After extensive preparation and led by a facilitator, the meeting gives survivors a way to hear they were not to blame for the harm done to them, and for the men to admit responsibility and help someone else in ways that traditional punitive justice often cannot.

Stay-away orders are a tool New York judges can use to protect victims from their abusers even before accusations get scrutinized in court. They grew out of a reform movement that urged police and prosecutors to take domestic violence more seriously. But they have become a form of summary justice, routinely issued upon the filing of a complaint without proper vetting. They have wrecked families and cost people their homes and jobs based on what turn out to be flimsy or false accusations. New York courts and legislators are considering proposals to fix the system.

The story of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act starts with a young legal aide to Sen. Joe Biden who did not identify as a feminist and knew little about the issues, but whose methodical building of a coalition and a set of arguments led to the historic passage of the law in 1994. VAWA was the first U.S. federal law to address comprehensively the ancient problem of gender-based violence. A key provision, authorizing federal civil lawsuits by victims, helped many women for six years until the Supreme Court struck it down. The law's other effects, still ongoing, include funding victim-aid groups.

The Denver, Colorado, district attorney’s office assigned an investigator to methodically search for signs that domestic abusers possessed prohibited guns, and then uses that information to take the guns away. Firearm prohibitions are required by federal law or through protective orders issued by courts. But enforcement in many places is spotty to nonexistent. By taking an active rather than passive approach to enforcement, the office has confiscated dozen of guns from people deemed a threat.

Drivers in a suburb of St. Paul, Minn., who have equipment issues with their cars may get coupons to help them fix the problems at repair shops rather than a ticket. The Lights On program was created by a nonprofit after the shooting death of Philando Castile by a police officer during a traffic stop over a broken tail light in a nearby town. Twenty participating police departments around the Twin Cities are participating and the program expanded to Iowa, with plans for additional locales.