Inequality across State Lines: How Policymakers Have Failed Domestic Violence Victims in the United States

Description

In the United States, one in four women will be victims of domestic violence each year. Despite the passage of federal legislation on violence against women beginning in 1994, differences persist across states in how domestic violence is addressed. Inequality Across State Lines illuminates the epidemic of domestic violence in the U.S. through the lens of politics, policy adoption, and policy implementation. Combining narrative case studies, surveys, and data analysis, the book discusses the specific factors that explain why U.S. domestic violence politics and policies have failed to keep women safe at all income levels, and across racial and ethnic lines. The book argues that the issue of domestic violence, and how government responds to it, raises fundamental questions of justice; gender and racial equality; and the limited efficacy of a state-by-state and even town-by-town response. This book goes beyond revealing the vast differences in how states respond to domestic violence, by offering pathways to reform. Contents List of Figures page x List of Tables xi Acknowledgments xiii List of Abbreviations xviii 1 Domestic Violence and Gender Inequality 1 1.1 A Theory of Federalism, Gender Inequality, and Domestic Violence 3 1.2 Scholarship on Federalism and Inequality 6 1.3 Defining Domestic Violence 9 1.4 The Epidemic of Domestic Violence in the United States 13 1.5 Racialization of Gun Violence, Republican Party Ideology, and the Obstruction of Domestic Violence Legislation 17 1.6 Research Design, Data, and Methods 21 1.7 Book Roadmap 25 2 Federal Action on Domestic Violence 28 2.1 Decades of Silence on Domestic Violence 30 2.2 Congress Steps In 33 2.2.1 Grant Programs Funded through the Violence Against Women Act 37 2.2.2 The Importance of the Lautenberg Amendment 38 2.2.3 Violence Against Women Act Reauthorizations in Congress 48 2.3 The Supreme Court and Domestic Violence Laws 54 2.4 Conclusion 60 3 Policymaking in the States: Domestic Violence Statutes 62 3.1 State Variation in the Definition of Domestic Violence 63 3.2 Factors in Adopting State Domestic Violence Policies 66 vii P3.2.1 Conservative Ideology as a Factor Blocking Domestic Violence Firearm Laws: The Cases of Georgia and Montana 75 3.2.2 Increases in Domestic Violence Rates as a Prompt for State Action: The Cases of Pennsylvania and West Virginia 81 3.2.3 The Influence of Vertical Policy Diffusion in Adopting Domestic Violence Laws: The Cases of Alaska and Minnesota 87 3.3 Conclusion 93 4 Explaining and Predicting the Adoption of State Domestic Violence Gun Laws 95 4.1 Impact of Federal and State Domestic Violence Firearm Laws 96 4.2 Policy Diffusion and Federalism 104 4.3 Political Polarization and the Passage of Domestic Violence Firearm Laws 109 4.4 Research Design and Methods 112 4.5 Results and Discussion 115 4.6 Conclusion 125 5 The View from the Courtroom: Inconsistent Implementation of Domestic Violence Policy at the Local Level 128 5.1 Policy Implementation and Judicial Treatment of Domestic Violence Cases 130 5.2 Results from the State Public Defender and District Attorney Survey 134 5.3 Effects of Domestic Violence Statutes on Case Outcomes for Public Defenders 141 5.4 Conclusion 148 6 The Costs of Inequality in Domestic Violence Policies 150 6.1 Political Costs of Unequal Domestic Violence Policies: Barriers to Political Participation 151 6.2 Disproportionate Impact of Domestic Violence on Women of Color, Immigrant Women, and Native American Women 155 6.3 Personal Costs of Unequal Domestic Violence Policies: The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic 161 6.4 Conclusion 171 7 Pathways for Improving Human Security for Women 173 7.1 The Bigger Picture: Domestic Violence Policy in a Federal System 173 7.2 Enhancing Federal Leverage to Prompt State Policy Change 176 7.3 Proposed Domestic Violence Policy Reforms 180 7.3.1 Extending State Firearm Laws: Ghost Guns 180 viii Contents P7.3.2 Expanding the Definition and Scope of Domestic Violence Laws to Include Coercive Control 181 7.3.3 Increased Use of Lethality Assessments 182 7.4 Avenues for Future Research 186 7.4.1 Judicial Decision Making 186 7.4.2 Domestic Violence and Native American Women 187 7.4.3 Comparative Subnational Case Studies of Domestic Violence during the COVID-19 Pandemic 188 7.4.4 Making the Commitment to Human Security for Women 188 Appendices 189 References 197 Index 215