FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 8, 2019
Press Contact: Candy Keown
Tel. (907) 378‑3339
candy.keown@aknwrc.org
The House Introduces the Reauthorization of Violence Against Women, House Bill 1585
The Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center (AKNWRC)
Today, the House introduced HR 1585 to Reauthorize the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA). The VAWA, originally enacted in 1994, was reauthorized in 2000, 2005 and most recently 2013. The introduction of this bill includes two important provisions specific to Alaska Native women that we hope will remain as the bill passes through the house. Section 901 recognizes the findings of the 2013 Law and Order Commission that in states with restrictive land settlement acts such as Alaska, “Indian country” is limited, resources for local tribal responses either nonexistent or insufficient to meet the needs, jurisdiction unnecessarily complicated and increases the already high levels of victim