School of Social Work Professor Oliver Williams
will attend a reception at Vice President Joe Biden’s home in Washington, D.C., on September 22, 2010. Williams is director of the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community, and the event is to honor the 16th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act.

The Violence Against Women Act is the first federal legislation to comprehensively address violence uniquely targeted at women and their children. It was drafted by then-U.S. Senator Biden’s office and signed into law in September 1994.