VAWA is the acronym for the Violence Against Women Act. The Violence Against Women Act is federal legislation enacted to provide financial and technical assistance to communities throughout the United State. The VAWA seeks to create programs, policies, and practices with the goal of ending domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

The VAWA seeks to impose harsher new penalties upon convicted defendant and additional aid to the victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

HOW DOES THE VAWA IMPACT THE PROSECUTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN GEORGIA?

Policies and statutes are great, but what really drives policy change is, you guessed it, money. And there is lots of money distributed in connection with VAWA. Over $4 billion in grants and cooperative agreements have been distributed to further the goals of the VAWA by the federal government.

Practically speaking, these grants translate into specialized prosecutorial units aimed solely at the prosecution of violence against women. Below if the grant description for the VAWA prosecutor's position in the DeKalb County Solicitor-General's Office:

WHY DOES IT MATTER IF YOUR PROSECUTOR'S JOB WAS CREATED AS A RESULT OF A VAWA GRANT?

Anecdotally, what we see is that prosecutors who have jobs simply because of a grant with a singular purpose tend to be some of the most aggressive and zealous prosecutors that you will encounter. For whatever reason, VAWA prosecutors and others that have a grant-funded job tend to closely guard those cases that come within their “kingdom”.

HOW DOES VAWA IMPACT THE DECISION THAT YOU SHOULD MAKE IN SELECTING A CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER?

If you know that your prosecutor is likely to understand the nuances of the type of criminal charge that you face and you know that the prosecutor is likely to be aggressive in seeking your conviction, the importance of selecting a qualified criminal defense attorney is greater.

Our Georgia criminal defense attorneys understand domestic violence cases and how to successfully defend them.

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