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The U.S. government estimates one in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year. U.S. government statistics reveal one in six women will experience an attempted or completed rape at some time in her life.
Approximately 500,000 women are estimated to be victims of some form of rape or sexual assault each year in the United States. A coordinated state and community response from advocacy organizations, the criminal justice system, and other leaders is critical to reducing violent crimes against women by enhancing victim safety and offender accountability.
Program Overview
The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) currently administers 19 grant programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and subsequent legislation. These grant programs are designed to develop the nation’s capacity to reduce domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by strengthening services to victims and holding offenders accountable for their actions.
The STOP (Services • Training • Officers • Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program (STOP Program) was initially authorized under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) and reauthorized and amended by the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 (VAWA 2000) and by the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 (VAWA 2005).
The STOP Program promotes a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to enhancing advocacy and improving the criminal justice system's response to violent crimes against women. It encourages the development and improvement of effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to address violent crimes against women and the development and improvement of advocacy and services in cases involving violent crimes against women.
By statute, each state is awarded a base amount of $600,000. Funds remaining after the allocated base amounts have been distributed are awarded to states based on population. The most accurate and complete data compiled by the United States Bureau of the Census is used to determine the state populations. By statute, Indian tribal populations are not included in the population count.
In Fiscal Year 2009, the STOP Program awarded almost $116 million in grant funds. Since 1995, OVW has made approximately 353 awards to States and territories, totaling more than $750 million, to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants for the STOP Program include any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, hereafter referred to as states and territories. Each State or territory designates an agency to administer its STOP Program.
To be eligible for funds, States and territories must certify that they are in compliance with the statutory eligibility requirements of the program.
Priority Areas
The emphasis of the STOP Program continues to be the implementation of comprehensive strategies to address violence against women that prioritize the needs and safety of victims and hold offenders accountable for their crimes. States and territories should seek to carry out these strategies by forging lasting partnerships between advocates, other victim service providers, and the criminal justice system.
They should also encourage communities to expand traditional resources and partners and respond more vigorously to domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking crimes.
States are encouraged to develop and support projects that:
- Prioritize support for programs that address sexual assault and stalking, including the development and implementation of protocols; training for judges, other court personnel, prosecutors, and law enforcement; and the development of coordinated community responses to violence against women.
- Enhance or strengthen Statewide collaboration efforts among law enforcement, prosecution, nonprofit, nongovernmental victim advocacy and service providers, and the courts in addressing violence against women.
- Implement community-driven initiatives, utilizing faith-based and community organizations, to address the needs of underserved populations as defined by VAWA, including people with disabilities and elder victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
STOP Certification Requirements
To be eligible for funds, states and territories must certify that they are in compliance with the statutory eligibility requirements of the STOP Program. States must certify they: 1) do not charge victims for filing criminal charges or protection orders; 2) do not charge for forensic medical examinations for victims of sexual assault and do not require victim cooperation in order to receive a free forensic sexual assault examination; 3) comply with judicial notification requirements regarding firearms; and 4) prohibit polygraph testing of victims.
Technical Assistance
Since 1995, OVW’s Technical Assistance Program provides OVW grantees with training, expertise, and problem-solving strategies to meet the challenges of addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. The Alliance for Local Service Organizations
(www.also-chicago.org) trains and provides resources to state STOP administering agencies.
Resources
To view a list of formula grant points of contact by state, please visit: www.usdoj.gov/docs/admin_contact_list.pdf.
For frequently asked questions regarding the STOP Program, please visit: http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/docs/FAQ_FINAL_nov_21_07.pdf.
For a complete list of OVW grant awards by state, please visit: http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/grantactivities.htm.
If you have additional questions, contact the OVW STOP Unit at OVW.STOP@usdoj.gov or (202) 307-6026.
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