CAWS North Dakota is one of five recipients to receive part of $3 million dollars in grants from the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). The grants will be used to provide services for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking, as well as, to increase local and tribal capacity to prosecute crimes of violence against women in the Bakken Region of North Dakota and Montana.
According to the Department of Justice, OVW’s Bakken Region special initiative launched in April 2014 and is the first large scale project targeting resources to support the expansion of services to victims and aid the local criminal justice system in responding to these crimes in the Bakken Region. The grants will be used to enhance responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and expand mental health counseling, advocacy, legal assistance, prevention education, sexual assault forensic examiner programs, Sexual Assault Response Teams, and law enforcement training.
“We are grateful to OVW for being responsive to our request for funding to address the increase in violent crimes against women in the Bakken region. This funding will help us start to address the significant gaps in services for victims including sexual assault services, mental health and substance abuse counseling and legal services,” said CAWS North Dakota’s Executive Director Janelle Moos.
Associate Attorney General West made the announcement about the grants at the Four Corners Indian Country Conference Tuesday, which took place on the Navajo Nation near Flagstaff, Arizona. “Victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking living in a vast rural region like the Bakken face unique challenges in accessing critical, life-saving services,” said Associate Attorney General Tony West.“With this new, targeted funding, tribes and local communities will be better equipped to respond to the increased need for mental health services, legal assistance, housing, and training.”
The four other grantees supported by OVW’s Bakken Region Initiative are: Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, Poplar, Montana; First Nations Women’s Alliance, Devils Lake, North Dakota; Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Helena, Montana; and Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, New Town, North Dakota.