§ 10-1102 Declaration of legislative findings and intent.
AC § 10-1102
Gender-motivated violence inflicts serious physical, psychological, emotional and economic harm on its victims. Congressional findings have documented that gender-motivated violence is widespread throughout the United States, representing the leading cause of injuries to women ages 15 to 44. Further statistics have shown that three out of four women will be the victim of a violent crime sometime during their lives, and as many as 4,000,000 women a year are victims of domestic violence. Senate hearings, various task forces and the United States department of justice have concluded that victims of gender-motivated violence frequently face a climate of condescension, indifference and hostility in the court system and have documented the legal system's hostility towards sexual assault and domestic violence claims. Recognizing this widespread problem, congress in 1994 provided victims of gender-motivated violence with a cause of action in federal court through the violence against women act (VAWA) (section 13981 of title 42 of the United States code). In a May 15, 2000, decision, the United States supreme court held that the constitution provided no basis for a federal cause of action by victims of gender-motivated violence against perpetrators of offenses committed against them either under the commerce clause or the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. In so ruling, the court held that it could "think of no better example of the police power, which the Founders denied the National Government and reposed in the States, than the suppression of violent crime and vindication of its victims." (Am. L.L. 2018/063, 1/19/2018, eff. 10/16/2018)
