Lesser-known aspects of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) include its vital housing and immigration protections, expanded tribal court jurisdiction, and broad anti-discrimination provisions that protect all victims regardless of gender or orientation. While most think of VAWA in terms of police and prosecutors, its impact extends into many other areas.
Critical immigration relief for victims
VAWA created specific immigration pathways to protect non-citizen victims of abuse who might otherwise be trapped in dangerous relationships out of fear of deportation.
• "Self-petitioning": VAWA allows an immigrant victim of battery or extreme cruelty to petition for a green card on their own, without the abuser's knowledge or participation.
• Protection from deportation: In addition to enabling a self-petition, VAWA also offers cancellation of removal (deportation) for eligible abuse victims in immigration court proceedings.
• Confidentiality: VAWA includes strict confidentiality provisions that prohibit immigration and law enforcement agencies from disclosing a survivor's immigration case information to their abuser
• Restored tribal court jurisdiction
• VAWA has progressively restored tribal nations' authority to hold non-Native perpetrators accountable for crimes committed against Native women on tribal lands. This addresses a major jurisdictional gap that historically left Native women without adequate protection.
• Tribal criminal jurisdiction: The 2013 and 2022 reauthorizations expanded tribal courts' criminal jurisdiction over non-Indian offenders for certain crimes committed in "Indian country".
• Expanded covered crimes: The 2022 reauthorization expanded the list of crimes tribal courts could prosecute to include sexual violence, child abuse, and sex trafficking.
