On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization bill (VAWA 2022) as a part of the Omnibus funding bill (H.R. 2471). VAWA 2022 builds on VAWA 2013’s tribal jurisdiction provision (covering domestic violence, dating violence, and protection order violations) by incorporating additional categories of criminal conduct that can be prosecuted by tribes against non-Indians including sexual violence, stalking, sex trafficking, child violence, obstruction of justice, and assaults against tribal justice personnel. VAWA 2022 also creates a pilot program for Indian Tribes in Alaska to exercise Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction within Alaska Native villages; provides formal authorization for the Tribal Access Program (TAP); and reestablishes the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Tribal Prisoner Program first authorized as a pilot in the 2010 Tribal Law and Order Act. The tribal provisions of VAWA 2022 are included in Title VIII of Division W of the overall bill. For more information, please check out the Section by Section Summary of VAWA 2022 Tribal Provisions by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the Inter-Tribal Working Group Summary of VAWA 2022 Tribal Provisions. This webpage was developed prior to passage of VAWA 2022 and has not yet been updated to reflect the most recent changes. Please be sure to review the amendments to the law before relying on this webpage for guidance. Please note - the enhanced “special tribal criminal jurisdiction” provisions will not take effect until October 01, 2022. The current “special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction” will apply until then.
The U. S. Department of Justice held a Domestic Violence Awareness Month event on October 6, 2015 which featured a panel discussion with representatives from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona and the Tulalip Tribes of Washington. On March 7, 2013, President Obama signed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013) into law. VAWA 2013 included a historic provision recognizing tribes' inherent power to exercise "special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction" (SDVCJ) over certain defendants, regardless of their Indian or non-Indian status, who commit acts of domestic violence or dating violence or violate certain protection orders in Indian country. The Department of Justice was instrumental in securing passage of this provision, which has fundamentally changed the landscape of tribal jurisdiction and promises to expand safety for victims. Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona and the Tulalip Tribes of Washington were two of the first three tribes to implement the SDVCJ.
A video of the event is available at: http://www.justice.gov/opa/video/domestic-violence-awareness-month-program (Please note that this event starts 22 minutes into the video.) An unedited transcript is available while this video is being close captioned.
The following event resources are available:
Justice Department prepared remarks are also available:
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was reauthorized for the third time on March 7, 2013. (Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, S. 47, 113th Congress, 2013-2015.) VAWA of 2013 includes Title IX—Safety for Indian Women.
Among its provisions, Title IX of VAWA of 2013 authorized “special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction.” This jurisdiction authorizes tribes to criminally prosecute non-Indians for the crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, and the violation of protection orders. However, in order for tribes to utilize this criminal jurisdiction, tribes must provide certain enumerated due process protections, including most of the protections required in the Tribal Law and Order Act.