Recent News

OVW Announces New Principal Deputy Director

Dear OVW Colleagues:   It has been my great honor to have been able to lead the work of the Office on Violence Against (OVW) Women, and now it is my honor to pass the helm of OVW to our new Principal Deputy Director, The Honorable Katharine (Katie) Sullivan.   Katie joins OVW after serving on […]

Stalking Fact Sheet

January is National Stalking Awareness Month.  The Stalking Resource Center at the National Center for Victims of Crime has provided this Stalking Fact Sheet.

France Just Announced a National Plan to Combat Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women

ERIN REIMEL NOVEMBER 25, 2017 3:32 PM PHOTO: NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a national plan to combat sexism, sexual violence, and domestic violence against women. The policies he outlined include simplifying the process for reporting rape, implementing additional public safety measures for women, and educating schoolchildren about pornography. Meanwhile, women across France gathered for demonstrations […]

Domestic Violence Awareness Month – Activities Across the Country

Nebraska Bright Horizons in Nebraska – During the month of October, O’Neill, Norfolk, and Ainsworth’s Main Street will have purple ribbons lining the streets. To kick things off, on the first Thursday of October, the 5th, Bright Horizons asked businesses, schools, and everyone else to wear purple and to share  pictures on their  Facebook page using the hashtag […]

Sexual Assault Kit Backlog

Today, the federal government announced that more than $34 million in grant funding has been awarded to 20 jurisdictions to help them address the backlog of untested rape kits. This funding will provide communities with much needed resources to: supplement efforts to test backlogged kits in law enforcement facilities; create multidisciplinary teams to investigate and prosecute cases connected to the backlog; […]

Peer to Peer Meeting – Nashville; October 4th and 5th

We wanted to send out a last call invitation to each of you reminding you of the upcoming Peer-to-Peer (P2P) mentoring conference scheduled for October in Nashville, TN. The P2P workshops are generally designed for newer administrators and they offer you an opportunity to have open discussion with other seasoned administrators about effective ways of […]

Board Member Bios and Photos

MaryEllen Garcia – President   MaryEllen Garcia is the VAWA Grants Administrator for the New Mexico Crime Victims Reparation Commission, administering the STOP VAWA and SASP formula awards, in addition to discretionary funds from the Office for Victims of Crime.  Until recently, Ms. Garcia also administered the VOCA Victim Assistance funds.   Prior to her work […]

DeVos Says She Will Revisit Obama-Era Sexual Assault Policies

After a series of listening sessions about campus sexual violence, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spoke with the news media in Washington on Thursday. CreditAlex Brandon/Associated Press WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos signaled on Thursday that she intends to take a hard look at whether the Obama administration’s campus rape policies deprived accused students of […]