Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Director Jennifer Klein at the 30th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act

Good evening and thank you for joining us to mark the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act—a law that President Biden introduced in 1990 and has championed ever since.

I’m Jennifer Klein and I have the honor and privilege of serving as the Director of the first-ever White House Gender Policy Council, which President Biden created in 2021.

And we are fortunate to be joined here today by more than 1,000 survivors, advocates, and allies. Thank you to each of you for the work you do, day in and day out.

While we know there is still much to do to end gender-based violence, today we reflect on the progress we have made over the last 30 years.

When people were still whispering about domestic violence, then-Senator Biden started a national conversation. He set out to not just change our laws but to change our culture. And he knew that the only way to do that was to bring violence against women and girls out from the shadows.

So that’s what he did.

He gave survivors a platform, handing them a microphone they never had before. He listened. He forced others to listen. And he stood up for women and girls, as he always has. 

He did what no one else had done and, alongside brave and courageous survivors and advocates, he forced the country to face what it had ignored for far too long.

As a young staffer in President Clinton’s White House, I can remember when the Violence Against Women Act was signed—and how then-Senator Biden made it possible.

Thanks to his leadership and the work of so many of those here with us today, VAWA fundamentally transformed our nation’s response to violence against women and girls. And President Biden was there at every turn, working across the aisle to strengthen and reauthorize the law four times—and building on the law’s legacy in supporting survivors and promoting accountability and justice.

And while we are gathered today for a special anniversary that only comes once every 30 years, know that this President, Vice President, and the entire Administration are fighting every single day on behalf of survivors and to end gender-based violence once and for all.

With that, I have the honor of introducing Poet Laureaute, Ada Limón.