Brzonkala believed that the state courts had denied her due process because they were indifferent to violence against women. Indeed, Congress had originally passed the VAWA largely because of the flawed manner in which some states handled rape and domestic violence. Brzonkala wanted relief from the federal system. Clearly, U.S. v. Morrison sought federal remedy against an individual, not a state. The VAWA was an attempt to strengthened civil procedure as a gender weapon by allowing federal remedies should state ones prove unsatisfactory.
Civil courts afford at least two advantages.
First, they allow feminists to address perceived abuses that fall outside criminal statute. Thus, 'abusive' men who are not criminals can be punished through monetary awards. For example, sexual harassment laws have their roots in Title VII, the fair employment provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which provides civil penalties. In the early '80s, when radical feminists waged war on the porn industry, they did so through local ordinances that declared pornography to be a form of discrimination on the basis of sex. Women who had posed for periodicals like Playboy would have been able to sue in civil court for damages.