09.15.14

Hoeven Announces Nearly $400K in DOJ Funds to Raise Awareness of Violence Against Native Women, Enhance Public Policy

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today announced that the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) has awarded nearly $400,000 to First Nations Women’s Alliance in Devils Lake to increase awareness of and enhance the response to violence against Native American women, while also improving victims’ access to essential services. The funds are made available through the DOJ’s Tribal Coalitions Program, which supports the development and operation of nonprofit, nongovernmental tribal domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions.

“Preventing crime and ensuring justice for victims must always be among our top priorities, and we continue our efforts to ensure that law enforcement officials and service providers have the tools and resources they need,” Hoeven said. “These funds will support a wide range of activities addressing violence against Native American women in our state, improving the public response at all levels of government and ensuring access to the support and care victims of sexual assault need.”

Earlier this month, Senator Hoeven held a roundtable discussion in Williston in a push to bring additional resources from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) into North Dakota to help state and local law enforcement officials with the growing number of crimes, including domestic and sexual violence, particularly in the Bakken region.

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, on which Hoeven serves, passed the Commerce, Justice and Science funding bill this past June, which includes a directive to the DOJ to develop a plan to support law enforcement in North Dakota and the Bakken.