"The passage of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 signaled a significant change in our Nation's efforts to control and prevent crimes such as domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The Act offers direction for a new collaborative approach among law enforcement, prosecutors, the courts and the judiciary, and the medical and health community, social service agencies, community leaders, and the private sector. Validity and Use of Evidence Concerning Battering and Its Effects in Criminal Trials addresses three issues specified by Congress: 1) the medical and psychological validity of the effects of battering, 2) the extent to which evidence and expert testimony on this issue have been admitted in criminal trials; and 3) the assessment of criminal justice professionals on the effects of this evidence in criminal trials."