The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 was a dramatic federal legal reform in the US as a result of almost three decades of advocacy by the battered women’s movement and the rape crisis center movement. VAWA comprehensively criminalized domestic and sexual violence and enhanced formal equality and services for the victims of violence. In 2007, as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Joseph Biden introduced the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) in the Senate to bring into US foreign policy what VAWA brought into the US domestic policy and to improve upon the way the US addresses violence against women globally. From a feminist lawmaking perspective, this essay traces the history of violence against women movement in the US, which defined rape and domestic violence as social problems that merit public policy solutions. After looking at VAWA’s goals and structures, the essay seeks to examine what kind of actual and symbolic impact VAWA had. Academic research literature indicates VAWA’s positive impact in declined incidence rates and changing social norms in the 1990s. In addition, through analyzing I-VAWA’s approaches and structures as well as similarities and differences to VAWA as a “model”, the paper suggests that if educational and employment attainments and other comprehensive efforts for women’s empowerment come along with, I-VAWA will promote reductions in the incidence of gender violence and will influence underlying social norms globally.

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 was a dramatic federal legal reform in the US as a result of almost three decades of advocacy by the battered women’s movement and the rape crisis center movement. VAWA comprehensively criminalized domestic and sexual violence and enhanced formal equality and services for the victims of violence. In 2007, as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Joseph Biden introduced the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) in the Senate to bring into US foreign policy what VAWA brought into the US domestic policy and to improve upon the way the US addresses violence against women globally. From a feminist lawmaking perspective, this essay traces the history of violence against women movement in the US, which defined rape and domestic violence as social problems that merit public policy solutions. After looking at VAWA’s goals and structures, the essay seeks to examine what kind of actual and symbolic impact VAWA had. Academic research literature indicates VAWA’s positive impact in declined incidence rates and changing social norms in the 1990s. In addition, through analyzing I-VAWA’s approaches and structures as well as similarities and differences to VAWA as a “model”, the paper suggests that if educational and employment attainments and other comprehensive efforts for women’s empowerment come along with, I-VAWA will promote reductions in the incidence of gender violence and will influence underlying social norms globally.

1994년 제정된 미국의 여성폭력법 (Violence Against Women Act (VAWA))은 30년 역사의 가정폭력 피해여성 운동과 성폭력 쉼터 운동의 결과로서 대대적인 미연방법 개혁을 의미한다. 여성폭력법은 가정폭력과 성폭력 전반을 범죄화 했고 폭력 피해자들을 위한 법적 평등과 서비스를 강화했다. 이 법의 입안자인 상원 Joseph Biden은 미상원 외교위원회 (Senate Foreign Relations Committee) 의장으로서, 2007년 이 법을 모델로 한 국제여성폭력법 (International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA))을 다시 한번 상원에 소개했다. 이는 여성폭력법이 미국 국내 정책과 국내법에 가져왔던 결과를 미국 외교정책 및 해외원조 프로그램에 가져오기 위함이며, 미국이 전세계적 여성폭력에 대처하는 방법을 향상시키기 위한 목적을 갖는다. 페미니스트 입법의 관점에서, 이 논문은 1960년대 말부터 시작된 미국의 반여성폭력 운동의 역사를 훑어본다. 이 사회운동은 성폭력과 가정폭력을 “공공 정책”이라는 답을 필요로하는 “사회문제”로 규정했고, 궁극적으로 여성폭력법의 제정을 달성했다. 논문은 여성폭력법의 목적과 구조를 살핀 후, 이 법이 미국에서 어떠한 실제적, 상징적 영향을 끼쳤는가를 연구한다. 학술적 연구물들은 이 법이 1990년대 미국의 여성폭력 발생 감소와 대중 의식 변화에 긍정적 영향을 끼친 것으로 제안한다. 나아가 논문은 국제여성폭력법의 여성폭력 문제에 관한 접근 방식과 구조를 살피고, 또한 국제여성폭력법(I-VAWA)이 여성폭력법(VAWA)에 대해 갖는 유사점과 차이점을 분석한다. 그럼으로써 논문은 여성들의 교육 및 고용강화, 그리고 여성의 지위 향상을 위한 국제사회의 통합적 노력이 병행된다면, 아직 미국 국회에서 통과되지 않은 이 국제여성폭력법은 전지구적으로 여성폭력의 발생을 줄이고, 사회의식 변화에 긍정적 영향을 끼칠 것이라고 제시한다.

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여성폭력, 페미니스트 입법, 미국 가정폭력 피해여성 운동, 여성폭력법 (Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)), 국제여성폭력법 (International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA))