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Costa Reaffirms Commitment to Protect Women from Violence, Ensure Equal Rights

March 17, 2021


(WASHINGTON) Congressman Jim Costa (CA-16), co-founder of the Crime Survivor's and Justice Caucus, released the following statement after his vote on two landmark bills that aim to protect women's rights: H.R. 1620, The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) of 2021 and the H.J. Res 17, a joint resolution to remove the time limit for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) ratification.

"We must always work to ensure every citizen of this country is treated as equal and valued members of society, " said Costa. "Despite the progress women have made, they continue to face barriers to equality and for some, violence in the home. I'm proud to support these two bills that lay the groundwork to provide women the resources they need to live free from violence and fear and equal protection of the law."

The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021 is a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women's Act which expired under a Republican led Congress in 2018. The transformative legislation calls for the protection of all Americans, particularly women and young girls, from violence and abuse and works to ensure survivors have access to essential services and justice.

This latest robust and bipartisan long-term reauthorization improves the current law by:

  • Making vital new investments in violence prevention;
  • Strengthening essential protections for the most vulnerable, including immigrant, LGBTQ and Native American women and specifically supporting communities of color in a culturally sensitive way;
  • Improving services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking;
  • Making improvements in the criminal justice response to gender-based violence and improving the health care system's response to domestic violence;
  • Helping stop abusers and stalkers from obtaining firearms; and
  • Expanding protections for victims' and survivors' financial security, including housing protections and anti-discrimination protections in the workplace.

A fact sheet on the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021 can be found here.


The Equal Rights Amendment affirms women's equality in our Constitution, enshrining the principle of women's equality and an explicit prohibition against sex discrimination in the nation's foundational document.

H.J.Res.17 removes the arbitrary deadline for ratification set in 1982 and takes a critical step toward ensuring the ERA officially becomes part of our Constitution. As the 28th Amendment, the ERA would:

  • Give women a key tool to legally combat everyday discrimination women often face, including pay discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and sexual and domestic violence;
  • Provide a single, national baseline protection against sex discrimination across the country;
  • Apply the most rigorous judicial review to laws and government policies that discriminate against women; and
  • Ensure that laws or policies that are inconsistent with equality for women be struck down.

A fact sheet on H.J. Res 17 can be found here.