Idaho received more than $2.2 million in grants to assist domestic violence victims
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) – Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael M. Gonzalez, Jr. joins law enforcement partners, victim services professionals, advocates, and communities across the country in observing October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
He announced Friday Idaho has received $2,255,613 in Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) grants. These OVW grants will help address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking victims throughout the state.
Four OVW awards were granted to four Idaho recipients, including the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence, the Bingham Crisis Center, the YWCA of Lewiston and Clarkston, and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. The awards will not only support local domestic violence and sexual assault victims with services, they will also provide funding to bolster the critical work of state and territory domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions.
Nationwide, OVW announced more than $476 million in grants.
The Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho encourages Idaho residents to be aware of the serious problem that is physical violence, sexual violence, stalking, and other forms of emotional abuse by a current or former intimate partner.
“These forms of abuse affect millions of Americans and Idaho is not spared of this trauma,” Acting U.S. Attorney Gonzalez said. “It is estimated that nearly 20 people, on average, in the U.S. are abused by an intimate partner every minute, or 10 million instances of domestic violence every year. Domestic violence is connected to more than half of homicides with female victims, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Victims need an escape, and these funds provide that life-line."
The OVW grants awarded in Idaho include the State and Territory Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalitions Grant Program; the Transitional Housing Assistance Grants for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Program; the Tribal Sexual Assault Services Program; and the Training and Technical Assistance Program.
The State Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalitions grant will allow the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence to facilitate coordinating victim service activities and collaborating with federal, state and local entities engaged in addressing violence against women, provide training to Idaho’s tribal and community domestic and sexual violence organizations, public awareness activities, and public policy. In particular, the Idaho Coalition is focusing on increasing awareness and coordination on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.
Also, the Training and Technical Assistance grant designated the Idaho Coalition as the national technical assistance provider on the prevention and response to teen dating violence and sexual assault in rural communities, focusing on increasing access to victim services for youth from historically marginalized communities who experience higher rates of dating violence and a lack meaningful access to intervention services.
Finally, the Transitional Housing Assistance grant will provide needed transitional housing funds to rural survivors of domestic and sexual assault in collaboration with domestic and sexual violence organizations and culturally specific service providers.
“We are honored to receive these grant awards from the Office on Violence Against Women,” said Kelly Miller, executive director of the Idaho Coalition. “We are committed to increasing access to services for survivors from communities that have been historically marginalized and are invested in creating the societal conditions so violence is no longer a common occurrence and everyone can thrive.”
Additional Idaho OVW grant recipients, the Bingham Crisis Center, the YWCA of Lewiston and Clarkston, and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, were similarly pleased to receive this federal funding, which will be instrumental in furthering their missions to support victims of crime.
