OJP works to prevent violence against women by helping improve the criminal justice response to the crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. OJP tests new approaches to prevent violence against women, investigate cases, and prosecute offenders. OJP also supports programs to assist women crime victims and conducts research and statistical analyses to help increase our understanding of the problem of violence against women.

Funding Opportunities

• The STOP (Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grants, OJP's largest funding program in this area, is designed to develop and strengthen law enforcement and prosecutorial strategies to combat violent crimes against women and develop and enhance services for victims. OJP's Violence Against Women Office (VAWO) provides funding to state administrative agencies that, in turn, award subgrants to local programs. Each state and territory must allocate 25 percent of the funds it receives to law enforcement programs, 25 percent to prosecution programs, and 25 percent to nonprofit, nongovernmental victim service programs. For information about obtaining STOP subgrant funds, contact your state's coordinator, listed in the Online Resource Guide.
• The STOP Violence Against Indian Women Discretionary Grant program is designed to develop and strengthen tribal law enforcement and prosecutorial strategies to combat violent crime against Indian women and develop and enhance services for the victims of such crimes. Tribes must allocate funds in the same proportion as STOP formula funds.
• The Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies program is a discretionary grant program to encourage states, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to treat domestic violence as a serious violation of criminal law. Grants can support initiatives in a number of purpose areas, including implementation of mandatory or pro-arrest policies, improvements in tracking of domestic violence cases, strengthening of legal advocacy services for victims of domestic violence, and development of coordinated computer tracking systems to ensure communication among police, prosecutors, and the courts.
• The Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement Discretionary Grant program is designed to help address the unique needs of rural communities in dealing with domestic violence and child abuse. The program encourages community involvement in developing a coordinated response to domestic violence and child abuse.
• Through the Civil Legal Assistance Grant Program, OJP makes funding available to law school legal clinics assisting battered women; legal advocacy programs operated out of or under the auspices of domestic violence victim advocacy organizations and shelters; programs to recruit, train, and coordinate attorneys who will provide pro bono civil legal assistance to domestic violence victims; and a broad range of other civil legal assistance activities. For more information about this program, call the Violence Against Women Office at 202/307-6026.
• The Grants to Combat Violent Crimes Against Women on Campuses program provides funding to higher education institutions to enhance victims services and to strengthen security and investigation strategies. The program is designed to help colleges and universities address unique circumstances of victimization on campuses by developing response systems that include victims services, campus law enforcement, housing officials, student organizations, and disciplinary boards. For more information about this program, call the Violence Against Women Office at 202/307-6026.
• OJP's Office for Victims of Crime administers the State Victims Assistance formula grant program. States provide subgrant funding to local organizations that serve victims of crime, including domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers. For information about OVC subgrant funding available in your state, contact the state administrator for crime victim services, listed in the Online Resource Guide.

• Funding for innovative programs for women crime victims may also be available through OVC's discretionary grant program. Information about OVC programs is published in the OJP Program Plan, which is available by calling the Department of Justice Response Center at 1-800/42-6770. You may also visit the OVC Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc, which includes links to organizations that serve victims of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, and rape.

For more information or to request an application kit for any of the above programs, contact the DOJ Response Center at 1-800/421-6770. Application kits for most programs are also available through OJP's Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov.

Training and Technical Assistance Opportunities

• The Violence Against Women Office administers a comprehensive training and technical assistance program for its grantees and subgrantees. Grantees and others can keep informed about upcoming conferences and training sessions by checking the training and technical assistance section of VAWO's Website, which is located at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/VAWO. Information is also available by calling VAWO at 202/307-6026.
• The STOP Violence Against Women Technical Assistance Project offers technical assistance to states and subgrantees under the STOP Formula Grant Program. The project offers technical assistance through phone consultation, training meetings, individualized on-site consultations, and written training materials. The project is administered by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, in conjunction with Battered Women's Justice Project and the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence. For more information, contact the STOP T.A. Project by e-mail at stopgrants_ta_project@csgi.com or by phone at 1-800/256-5883.
• The Battered Women's Justice Project provides training, technical assistance and other resources on domestic violence related to civil court access and representation, criminal justice response, and battered women's self-defense. BWJP is supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (For more information, call BWJP toll-free at 1-800/903-0111 or by TTY at 612/824-8768.)
• OVC provides training and technical assistance to strengthen victim assistance in a variety of disciplines, including violence against women. For detailed information, see Chapter 8.

Other Resources

• OJP's Violence Against Women Office collaborates with the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse to support an on-line clearinghouse that is devoted to providing law, criminal justice, advocacy, and social service professionals with up-to-date information on interventions to stop violence against women. Topics addressed include full faith and credit, promising practices, law enforcement, prosecution and probation, advocacy, stalking, batterer programs, child custody and protection, and research issues pertaining to violence against women. The Website is located at www.vaw.umn.edu.
• The Department of Health and Human Services is involved in a number of initiatives relating to violence against women as a women's health issue. HHS administers grants for women's shelters and related services, such as community outreach and prevention and children's counseling. Also, HHS provides grants to states for rape prevention and education programs conducted by rape crisis centers or similar nongovernmental, nonprofit entities. (For more information on HHS programs, call the HHS Office of Public Affairs at 202/690-7850 or visit the HHS Website at www.dhhs.gov.) HHS also operates the National Domestic Violence Hotline, a 24-hour, toll-free service which provides crisis assistance and local shelter referrals for callers across the country. The voice number is 1-800/799-SAFE, and the TDD number for the hearing impaired is 1-800/787-3224.
• VAWnet, the National Electronic Network on Violence Against Women, is a project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, with support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. VAWnet is an effort to enhance the work of state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions and allied national organizations through the use of electronic networking. More information on VAWnet is available from the NRCDV at 1-800/537-2238 or by TTY at 1-800/553-2508.

For more information

OJP has published many statistical reports, program descriptions, and research reports addressing violence against women. All OJP publications, as well as publications of many other criminal justice organizations, are available through the National Criminal Justice Reference Service. For information, call NCJRS at 1-800/851-3420. In addition, users of NCJRS' Website, the Justice Information Center, can search and print the full text of thousands of documents. The Web address is www.ncjrs.org.

For more information about OJP and its bureaus, contact OJP's Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at 202/307-0703 or visit OJP's Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov. The site contains links to all of the bureaus and program offices, as well as to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service.

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