I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3921 
To provide grants for public information campaigns to educate racial and 
ethnic minority communities and immigrant communities about domestic 
violence. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 
Ms. SOLIS (for herself, Mrs. CAPITO, and Mrs. CAPPS) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide grants for public information campaigns to edu-
cate racial and ethnic minority communities and immi-
grant communities about domestic violence. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Violence Pre-
vention, Education, and Awareness Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Nearly one-third of American women report 
being physically or sexually abused by a husband or 
boyfriend at some point in their lives. 
(2) Family violence costs the nation between 
$5,000,000,000 and $10,000,000,000 each year in 
medical expenses, police and court costs, shelters 
and foster care, sick leave, absenteeism, and non-
productivity. 
(3) The United States is becoming increasingly 
multicultural, and racial and ethnic minorities are 
expected to constitute approximately 50 percent of 
the United States population by 2050. 
(4) Two-thirds of female immigrants to the 
United States originate from Asia, Latin America, 
the Caribbean, and the Middle East, and they mi-
grate here to seek economic security, reunify their 
families, or escape prosecution. 
(5) Racial and ethnic minority women and im-
migrant women face unique challenges to reporting 
and getting help for domestic violence. 
(6) Structural inequalities experienced by racial 
and ethnic minority communities and immigrant 
communities, including poverty and discrimination, 
may contribute to higher rates of violence.
(7) Problems of domestic violence are exacer-
bated for immigrants when spouses control the im-
migration status of their family members, and abus-
ers use threats of refusal to file immigration papers 
and threats to deport spouses and children as power-
ful tools to prevent battered immigrant women from 
seeking help, trapping battered immigrant women in 
violent homes because of fear of deportation. 
(8) Many racial and ethnic minority women and 
immigrant women face cultural barriers to reporting 
abuse or seeking help for domestic violence, includ-
ing but not limited to strong religious beliefs that 
stress the importance of keeping family intact, fear 
of dishonor, or a belief that negative events occur re-
gardless of attempts to prevent them. 
(9) Many racial and ethnic minority women and 
immigrant women also face institutional barriers to 
reporting abuse or seeking help for domestic vio-
lence, including but not limited to restrictions on 
public assistance, limited access to immigration re-
lief, lack of translators or bilingual professionals, lit-
tle educational material in the woman’s native lan-
guage, treatment programs that do not take into ac-
count ethnic and cultural differences, prohibitive fee
structures, and inflexible or inconvenient hours of 
operation. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS TO 
EDUCATE RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY 
COMMUNITIES 
AND 
IMMIGRANT 
COMMU-
NITIES ABOUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to 
carry out this section, the Attorney General, acting 
through the Violence Against Women Office, shall make 
grants to public or private nonprofit entities, States, and 
Indian tribes and tribal organizations to carry out public 
information campaigns for the purpose of educating racial 
and ethnic minority communities and immigrant commu-
nities about domestic violence, including the effects of do-
mestic violence, methods of preventing or reducing domes-
tic violence, and services available to victims of domestic 
violence. 
(b) USE
OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Grant amounts 
under this section may be used only to carry out public 
information campaigns for the purpose specified in sub-
section (a) and to provide staffing appropriate to carrying 
out the campaigns. 
(c) ELEMENTS OF CAMPAIGNS.—Each public infor-
mation campaign carried out under this section shall con-
sist of one or more of the following elements:
(1) Public service announcements. 
(2) Paid educational messages for print media. 
(3) Public transit advertising. 
(4) Electronic broadcast media. 
(5) Any other mode of conveying information 
that the Attorney General determines to be appro-
priate. 
(d) REQUIREMENTS
FOR GRANT.—The Attorney 
General may award a grant under this section to an appli-
cant only if the Attorney General determines that— 
(1) the campaign will be carried out in con-
sultation with local domestic violence advocates or 
State domestic violence coalitions; 
(2) the campaign is designed to be conducted in 
a culturally sensitive manner using one or more cul-
turally appropriate languages; 
(3) the applicant has an adequate plan to test- 
market the campaign with a relevant community or 
group in the relevant geographic area, and will carry 
out that plan; and 
(4) the applicant will use effectiveness criteria 
in carrying out the campaign and an evaluation com-
ponent to measure the effectiveness of the campaign.
(e) AWARD CRITERIA.—In awarding grants under 
this section, the Attorney General shall consider the fol-
lowing criteria: 
(1) Whether the applicant has, or will be 
partnering with an entity that has, a record of high 
quality campaigns of a comparable type. 
(2) Whether the applicant has, or will be 
partnering with an entity that has, a record of high 
quality campaigns that educate the communities and 
groups at greatest risk of domestic violence. 
(f) APPLICATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 
grant under this section, a State or entity must sub-
mit to the Attorney General an application that 
meets the requirements of paragraph (2). 
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—An application submitted 
under this subsection shall be in such form, and sub-
mitted in such manner, as the Attorney General may 
prescribe, and shall include the following matters: 
(A) A complete description of applicant’s 
plan for the proposed public information cam-
paign. 
(B) An identification of the specific com-
munities and groups to be educated by the cam-
paign, and a description of how the campaign
will educate the communities and groups at 
greatest risk of domestic violence. 
(C) The plans of the applicant with respect 
to working with organizations that have exper-
tise in developing culturally appropriate infor-
mational messages. 
(D) A description of the geographic dis-
tribution of the campaign. 
(E) An identification of the media organi-
zations and other groups through which the 
campaign will be carried out and any memo-
randum of understanding or other agreement 
under which the campaign will be carried out. 
(F) A description of the nature, amount, 
distribution, and timing of informational mes-
sages to be used in the campaign. 
(G) Such information and assurances as 
the Attorney General may require to determine 
whether the requirements specified in sub-
section (d) will be satisfied, and whether the 
criteria specified in subsection (e) apply. 
(H) Such other information and assur-
ances as the Attorney General may require. 
(g) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 
term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American 
Samoa, Guam, and any other territory or possession of 
the United States. 
(h) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act. 
Æ