Abstract
Social policy designed to prevent and address sexual assault in the United States has developed slowly and in the context of many competing political interests. This chapter explores three central federal policies to address sexual assault: the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the Clery Act, and Title IX. In addition, this chapter considers the very limited policy attempts to specifically address the disproportionate impact of sexual assault on vulnerable populations. Finally, this chapter’s content raises questions for readers about who benefits from current sexual assault policies and what can be done to prioritize the needs of victim-survivors in policymaking efforts.
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McMahon, S.M. (2019). Social Policy and Sexual Assault. In: O’Donohue, W.T., Schewe, P.A. (eds) Handbook of Sexual Assault and Sexual Assault Prevention. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23645-8_5
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