Read OVW Director Cindy Dyer's message

OVW Director Cindy Dyer held a web conference to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month and to preview the upcoming OVW-funded campaign to prevent teen dating violence launching in early 2009. The web conference reviewed the research shaping the new campaign, including qualitative research on social norms and dating behaviors among teens.

Esta Soler and Brian O'Connor from the Family Violence Prevention Fund and Jim Therkalsen from R/GA Digital Advertising Agency joined Director Cindy Dyer for an overview of elements of this innovative campaign.

You can view the entire web conference recording, view slides from the presentations, and download handouts from the Prevention Connection website.

For more information, the National Institute of Justice Journal features the article "Teen Dating Violence: A Closer Look at Adolescent Relationships" examining the complex nature of teen dating violence.

• OVW Director Cindy Dyer's 2008 Domestic Violence Awareness Month Message


• About Domestic Violence


• How Widespread is Domestic Violence?


• Contact your State Domestic Violence Coalition


• Contact Your Tribal Domestic Violence Coalition


• National Organizations


• Celebrate Safe Communities Month

In March 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a decision in Crawford v. Washington. This decision makes it more difficult for a prosecutor to prove their case when the victim is unwilling or unavailable to testify at trial. The Office on Violence Against Women hosted a "Roundtable on the Impact of Crawford on the Prosecution of Domestic Violence." The Roundtable gathered a group of experts to discuss challenges of prosecuting domestic violence cases in light of recent Supreme Court jurisprudence and to propose promising practices to aggressively pursue these cases on behalf of victims.

OVW Director Cindy Dyer noted, "As a former specialized family violence and sexual assault prosecutor for fourteen years, I am acutely aware of the difficulty prosecutors across the country are experiencing. My goal as the Director of OVW is to lead the national response so that we can keep victims safe and continue to hold batterers accountable."

To read more on Crawford please review the following links: