Violence Against Women Act 20th Anniversary: Rutgers Law Professor Named One of 20 Extraordinary Advocates, Invited to White House for Civil Rights Summit
Two decades ago the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was signed into federal law by President Clinton. For Rutgers Law–Camden Professor Sally Goldfarb, who attended the signing ceremony, this landmark moment in history was just part of an impressive effort to make the world a safer place for women.
Goldfarb’s advocacy for women’s rights has gained national attention during this important anniversary: she has been selected by the American Bar Association (ABA) as a recipient of its 20/20 Vision Award and invited to the White House for a summit on civil rights and equal protection for women.
Goldfarb played a key role in the creation of the Violence Against Women Act, which was the first federal law to address the problems of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other types of gender-motivated violence. She helped to draft the law and founded and chaired the national coalition that lobbied for its passage. According to Goldfarb, advances have been made in the campaign to eradicate violence against women, but the Rutgers–Camden legal scholar’s tireless efforts are still in high demand.
“During the past 20 years, the legal system’s response to violence against women has improved in many ways, and it has been exciting to be part of that effort,” she says. “But there is a lot more work to be done. The laws concerning domestic and sexual violence, and the way those laws are interpreted and implemented, are still not adequate to ensure that justice is served.”
In being named one of 20 trailblazers who mobilized the legal profession against domestic and sexual violence by the ABA’s Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence, Goldfarb is in distinguished company. In addition to the ABA President’s 20th Anniversary Award Recipients Vice President Joseph Biden and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), other 20/20 Vision Award Recipients include judges, attorneys from law firms, and leaders of advocacy organizations. The awards will be presented this summer during the ABA annual meeting in Chicago.
Pioneered and championed by then-U.S. Senator Joseph Biden, the VAWA is being recognized during its 20th anniversary at the White House with a summit this June to continue the work toward progress. According to Vice President Biden, the Summit on Civil Rights and Equal Protection for Women is being held in order to expand civil rights remedies in the law. He has been quoted recently as saying “You can’t talk about human rights and human dignity without talking about the right of every woman on the planet to be free from violence and free from fear.”
Working to advance women’s rights has been a lifelong professional pursuit for Goldfarb. Before joining the Rutgers faculty in 1995, Goldfarb was a senior staff attorney at the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York City. She previously worked as a judicial clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin; as a Georgetown University Women's Law and Public Policy Fellow; and as an assistant attorney general in the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
In 2005 and 2008, Goldfarb was chosen to advise the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women on legal remedies for violence against women. She has written widely and participated in academic symposia on the Violence Against Women Act, women's legal rights, same-sex marriage, and the impact of disasters on women and families. The Rutgers Law–Camden scholar has served on a number of boards and commissions, including the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Women in the Courts and the Board of Advisers for the American Law Institute's Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution.
At Rutgers Law–Camden, Goldfarb teaches family law, sex discrimination, and torts. To her students, she offers this advice about the legal profession:
“I often tell my students that being a lawyer means not only that you can understand and apply the law, but that you are in a position to change the law,” she adds. “I’ve tried to carry out that vision as a legal advocate, and I aim to give my students the tools they will need to undertake the law reform initiatives of the future.”