New Violence Against Women Act Includes Historic Protections for Native American and LGBT Survivors

President Obama has signed into law historic new protections for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault with the expanded reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Initially passed in 1994, the bill lapsed in 2011 after Republicans blocked it over the new protections. The measure was approved after House Republicans finally allowed a vote last week. It includes a landmark addition that empower Native American tribal authorities to prosecute non-Native Americans for abuses committed on tribal lands. For the first time ever, it will also specifically include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender survivors. We’re joined by two guests who attended Thursday’s reauthorization ceremony at the White House: Juana Majel Dixon, first vice president of the National Congress of American Indians, and Mara Keisling, a transgender rights activist and founding executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality

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Source: Democracy Now!
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