Biden commemorates Violence Against Women Act as 'proudest' legislative win on eve of its 30th anniversary

President Joe Biden on Thursday commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, hailing it as his "proudest legislative accomplishment" during his more than five decades serving in political office in Washington.

“The Violence Against Women Act broke the dam of congressional and cultural resistance, brought this hidden epidemic out of the shadows, and began to shift the legal and social burdens away from the survivors and onto the perpetrators where they belonged,” Biden said on Thursday, addressing survivors, advocates and allies on the South Lawn at an event commemorating the law.

The president also announced a series of new efforts to curb gender-based violence, saying his administration is "issuing new policies to expand housing protections to survivors, give law enforcement more tools to move guns from domestic abusers, and we are we're tackling the next frontier of gender based violence and abuse: Deep fake images and videos generated by artificial intelligence."

The Justice Departmenton Thursday announced $690 million in grant funding for this year administered by the agency's Office on Violence Against Women, and detailed funding efforts for a new national resource center to tackle cyber crimes against people, including cyber stalking and the sharing of intimate images without consent.

“Thirty years ago, VAWA transformed our national response to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Thursday.

“Today, officers, prosecutors, judges, families, and society at large understand what should have always been clear: these crimes cannot be cast aside as somehow distinct or private," he continued. "Instead, we recognize