2010 Archived Messages from the Director
April Message from Director Susan B. Carbon
June Message from Director Susan B. Carbon
September Message from Director Susan B. Carbon
October Message from Director Susan B. Carbon
November Message from Director Susan B. Carbon
December Message from Director Susan B. Carbon
Dear Friends,
It is my pleasure to continue the Director’s monthly messages and share with you the latest news from the Office on Violence Against Women. To say that I am honored to have been appointed by President Barack Obama as Director of this Office is an understatement. It is the most exciting and humbling experience of my life. When I began working with OVW 15 years ago on a technical assistance project to train judges around the country, I never thought I would have such an extraordinary opportunity to be here, doing work I love so much.
All of us in the field have taken different journeys that have brought us to this important work. Mine began in March of 1993 when my state’s Chief Justice asked me to be part of the five-member team that traveled to San Francisco for the Courts and Communities: Confronting Violence in the Family Conference. Those four days in San Francisco quite literally changed my life.
At that conference, I was exposed, for the first time, to the pervasiveness of violence against women. I learned about issues I’d never dreamt existed and horrors no person ought ever to be subjected. I left the conference completely exhausted, but left it a changed person. I left it having learned that judges could be a part of the solution – indeed, that judges had to be a part of the solution, and I wanted to be one of those making the necessary change happen.
Over the next 15 years, I spent much of my professional life working with judges, advocates, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, legislators, teachers, medical and mental health professionals, public and private attorneys, including members of the defense bar, child protective services, elder services, the faith community, and other community leaders to educate our state about domestic and sexual violence, and to institute necessary changes in our laws and court rules. I had the privilege of working not only in New Hampshire, but around the country with many of our Technical Assistance Providers and around the world.
I would like to take a moment of personal privilege in this first monthly message to thank so many for their support. First, I am honored beyond words to have been selected by President Obama. But I know that without the support of Vice President Biden, I would not be here. I cannot thank them enough for their trust and confidence. Upon my arrival, Attorney General Holder and Associate Attorney General Perrelli have so warmly welcomed me to the Department of Justice, as have so many others within the Department. Their leadership and support of our work is extraordinary. And my colleagues here at the Office – an immensely talented and dedicated group of professionals with whom I now have the pleasure of working. We have all benefited from their vision and commitment.
There are two individuals in particular from New Hampshire for whom I wish to publically acknowledge, my Administrative Judge, the Honorable Edwin W. Kelly, and our state’s Chief Justice, the Honorable John T. Broderick, Jr. Both have been exemplary mentors and visionary leaders who have supported me in my work within New Hampshire and elsewhere for so many years.
My family and dearest friends are too numerous to identify by name, but know who they are. To all of you, I am deeply indebted.
To everyone in the field, know that I appreciate the magnitude of responsibility of this position. I am humbled by the support that I have been given, and will endeavor to do my level best to serve the needs of victims and survivors, young and old, and from every corner.
In the months ahead, I hope to use these monthly messages to highlight exciting and promising programs inspired both within this Office and Department of Justice, and from all of you in the field. I envision this work as a genuine partnership with all of you, and am excited to both begin my new role, and to continue the tradition of leadership this Office has demonstrated for 15 years.
In my first three weeks as Director, Attorney General Eric Holder and Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli hosted the first-ever Department of Justice Sexual Assault Awareness Month program on April 12th in the Great Hall of Justice here in Washington, DC. I also traveled to Jacksonville, Florida to visit a national model for coordinated military-civilian community responses to sexual assault and domestic violence, a project sponsored by the Battered Women’s Justice Project. Read more from the Attorney General and the Associate Attorney General, and more on my trip to Jacksonville.
Now, 15 years after its original passage, we have an historic opportunity to bring to fruition to the dream that inspired the Violence Against Women Act. None of us is immune from sexual or domestic violence, but all of us are needed to end it. Let us forge new and stronger partnerships, put our issues on the front burner of everyone's agenda, and give life and light to this dream. I thank you for all you have done, and look forward to all we will do together.
With deep respect and gratitude,
Susan B. Carbon
OVW Director
U.S. Department of Justice
Dear Friends,
For the first time in its history, the Department of Justice observed June 15 as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day to raise awareness about the vulnerability of older people to domestic abuse and sexual violence. In ceremonial and educational events on both coasts, top Justice Department officials came together with workers in the field to raise awareness about the vulnerability of the elder population to abuse and violence. Read more about the Department’s events.
Ending Abuse in Later Life
As you may know, elder abuse victims face unique obstacles in getting the help and services they need. Age or disability may increase the isolation of older individuals. Victims may refrain from seeking help or calling the police due to shame or embarrassment, perhaps because the abuse was committed by an adult child or grandchild, spouse, friend or caregiver. Myths about sexual assault–that only young women are raped, for example–coupled with a failure to see older individuals as sexual beings can prevent medical and other professionals from recognizing indicators of sexual assault when they are dealing with older victims.
Through its Abuse in Later Life Program, the Office on Violence Against Women has provided over $26 million in funding to 78 communities throughout the nation since 2002. An appropriate and comprehensive response to older victims must take into account the unique challenges these victims face and improve system-wide responses to older victims.
A multidisciplinary approach, involving medical personnel, social service workers, law enforcement and the courts, is critically needed to address cases of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. You can find more information here: http://www.inpea.net/weaad.html .
Violence Against Women Act News
Last week, the Department of Justice clarified that the criminal provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) apply with equal force in cases when the victim and perpetrator are of the same sex. The Department is working to ensure that all U.S. Attorney offices are aware of the law’s applicability to LGBT relationships. In addition to publishing an Office of Legal Counsel opinion on the subject, the Department has provided notice of the opinion to the U.S. Attorney offices. This confirms that Department of Justice prosecutors have access to all available tools to protect victims of domestic violence and stalking whether they be in same sex or opposite sex relationships. This does not represent a change in the law, nor will it narrow or otherwise impact VAWA’s existing criminal applications. Rather, it clarifies to the extent that there was any doubt that VAWA is inclusive and protective of women and men, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Read more.
Congress is now getting ready to debate the 2011 Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. The Senate Judiciary Committee recently convened its first hearing on the reauthorization to discuss emerging issues and areas of improvement for legislation. You can view the entire hearing on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s website and read my testimony.
Fiscal Year 2010 Grants
Thank you to everyone for submitting proposals for the Fiscal Year 2010 grant cycle. All of the program solicitations are now closed. Successful applicants will be notified of their grant awards by September 30, 2010. We will release Fiscal Year 2011 solicitations beginning in late fall to early winter. Please check OVW’s website for updates.
Catherine Pierce
I would like to let all of you know that Catherine Pierce has recently joined the Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), to focus specifically on issues related to girls, something which has been a passion of hers for years. This is an exciting new venture for her, after having spent most of the past 15 years here at OVW. This work, and our field, has tremendously benefited from her passion, creativity, and dedication to eliminating crimes of violence against women and caring compassionately for survivors. We are enormously grateful to her for her years of service and leadership in the field. Please join us in wishing her well in her new position at OJJDP.
With deep respect and gratitude,
Susan B. Carbon
OVW Director
U.S. Department of Justice
Dear Friends,
September means changing weather, falling leaves, new pencils and notebooks, and back to school. As thousands of college students make their way to their campus communities, some for the first time, we are reminded that not all college experiences end with positive memories. This year, nearly 5% of college women will be sexually assault in their campus community. Furthermore, over an entire academic career, approximately 1 in 4 college women will be the victim of some form of sexual assault.
It is important to note that these crimes do not just happen in the dark alleys and unlit streets outside the Quad or between the Library and Dining Hall. The perpetrator is not always a stranger met in an unfamiliar location. In fact, quite the opposite is the reality of campus sexual assault: At least 80% of all sexual assaults in campus communities are committed by an acquaintance of the victim. These crimes happen in dorm rooms with invited guests, at parties with friends in the next room, in seemingly safe and well lit places. Alarmingly, almost 60% of on-campus sexual assaults take place in what should be the safest of all locations: the victim’s living quarters.
These statistics are sobering, and defy many perceptions of carefree, and crime-free, college campuses. Through a “don’t talk to strangers” culture, college women have been taught to be cautious as they walk alone at night in their new neighborhoods. But these staggering statistics show that “stranger danger” does not address this tragedy: college women must be equally cautious in their own homes and their own rooms with people they know.
Unfortunately, these studies have also found that fewer than 5% of completed or attempted rapes are reported to law enforcement officials. That is to say less than 1 in 10 college women will tell law enforcement after they have been raped or after someone has attempted to rape them. Although these crimes are not shared with law enforcement, they are not unspoken. In nearly two-thirds of completed or attempted rape cases, the victim told another person about the incident, usually a friend instead of a campus official or law enforcement officer. Many said the experience was traumatic enough to share with a friend but “not serious enough to report” and that it was “not clear that a crime was committed.” For many college women, underreporting may stem from this lack of definition, both personally and campus-/nation- wide, of what “rape” or “sexual assault” means. When asked “has anyone made you have sexual intercourse by using force or threatening to harm you or someone close to you?,” of the respondents that answered “yes,” 48.8% did not consider what had happened to them rape or attempted rape.
We have a duty as a society to speak more openly and honestly about sexual assault, but this is an especially important mission on college campuses. In the last 5 years, the Office on Violence Against Women have awarded over $47 million to 91 different colleges and universities throughout the United States in order to end sexual assault on college campuses. These campuses are charged with providing sexual assault prevention training to every student, trainings law enforcement and staff on appropriate responses to sexual assault, and engaging the surrounding community and a comprehensive response to sexual assault using various campus communities and off- campus community assets. These campuses are doing their part to end violence against women on their college campuses, but it will take all of us to end the violence against women that occurs on college campuses in every part of the United States. It will take campus staff and faculty that train students on prevention, stopping the violence before it even begins. It will take law enforcement that creates safe environments for reporting. It will take trusted friends knowing when to encourage reporting of seemingly “no-big-deal” incidents. And it will take a campus dialogue about and national demystification of sexual assault. Of this year’s freshman women, nearly 25% of them will be sexually assaulted by graduation. It will take each and every member of our national community, both on- and off- campus, to stop this unacceptable statistic.
With deep respect and gratitude,
Susan B. Carbon
OVW Director
U.S. Department of Justice
Dear Friends,
This October, we at the Office on Violence Against Women are excited to observe the 23rd Annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Started in 1987 as a way to bring advocacy groups together around the common cause of ending violence against women, Domestic Violence Awareness Month is a time to recognize our achievements while drawing attention to the continuing needs for the movement to end violence against women. As President Obama stated in a proclamation announcing Domestic Violence Awareness Month:
Ending domestic violence requires a collaborative effort involving every part of our society. Our law enforcement and justice system must work to hold offenders accountable and to protect victims and their children. Business, faith, and community leaders, as well as educators, health care providers, and human service professionals, also have a role to play in communicating that domestic violence is always unacceptable. As a Nation, we must endeavor to protect survivors, bring offenders to justice, and change attitudes that support such violence.
Sixteen years after the Violence Against Women Act became law in 1994, we have made great strides in ending domestic violence. We have awarded millions of dollars in grants and cooperative agreements to organizations that help stop violence against women in all 50 states and every territory. We have raised awareness nationwide of the unsettling reality of the prevalence of domestic violence, and the breadth of its impact on all communities. Our battle to change social norms -- to make domestic violence simply unacceptable – has saved lives in every corner of the country. For this, we can be grateful, but the fight is long from over.
One in four women will be the victim of domestic violence in her life. About 10% of students nationwide report being physically hurt by an intimate partner in the past year. For African American women, and women in Indian Country, the statistics are even worse. Domestic violence is a reality they ought not have to face. No one should. And when we look at domestic violence in its most lethal form, almost one-third of female homicide victims that are reported in police records are killed by an intimate partner. Domestic violence is a chronically underreported crime. It is a travesty, and it must end.
In honor of this important month, the Office on Violence Against Women will be hosting a national consultation with tribes about the way the federal government can help end the epidemic of violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women. Additionally, we will be meeting with grantees from across the country on various topics essential to ending violence against women: engaging men and youth, protecting children exposed to violence, addressing the needs of culturally specific communities, bridging the gap between domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy organizations, and engaging law enforcement and members of the court system to create a more safe and just system for victims, and one which will hold offenders accountable for their actions.
This month is a time for discussion, advocacy, new plans, and rejuvenated action. We hope you will join us in honoring this month by wearing purple on October 28th. We also hope this month will inspire you to talk to your friends and neighbors about the importance of raising awareness about the realities of domestic violence. Each year, an estimated 4.8 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner. These women are our family members, our colleagues, our neighbors and our friends. They are in every community, urban and rural; they cover every age and ethnic group, and every economic sphere, rich or poor. None of us is immune, but all of us must work to end this national tragedy. As President Obama concluded his proclamation of this important month:
This month – and throughout the year -- let each of us resolve to be vigilant in recognizing and combating domestic violence in our own communities, and let us build a culture of safety and support for all those affected… I call on all Americans to speak out against domestic violence and support local efforts to assist victims of these crimes in finding the help and healing they need.
I hope this month will be the time you answer this call to action.
Finally, let me also take a moment to congratulate all of our recent grantee recipients. This year, the Office on Violence Against Women awarded over $365 million dollars to more than 750 organizations in communities across the country. I am humbled by the amazing work performed by each of these organizations. We at OVW are excited and privileged to help enable our grantees to tackle obstacles and achieve our shared goals of creating a nation free of fear, free of domestic violence.
With deep respect and gratitude,
Susan B. Carbon
OVW Director
U.S. Department of Justice
We remind all those in need of assistance, or other concerned friends and individuals, to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE.
Dear Friends,
First and foremost, on behalf of the Office on Violence Against Women, let me congratulate all of our grantees and others in the field on a very successful Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Organizations from across the country spent this last month having important conversations, increasing awareness, and helping end domestic violence against women. We are proud of your efforts!
Additionally, it was an incredible honor for the White House to host an event centered on the Administration’s unprecedented coordination across the Federal government to combat violence against women on October 27th. President Obama, Vice President Biden, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett and Advisor on Violence Against Women Lynn Rosenthal addressed the need to continue to confront domestic and sexual violence in this country. The importance of better communication between law enforcement and direct service providers, enforcement of protective orders, and changing public attitudes were discussed at length. President Obama specifically highlighted the financial barriers of domestic violence and the need for emergency relocation and housing accommodations so that “no one has to choose between a violent home and no home at all.”
OVW spent Domestic Violence Awareness Month continuing our work on this important issue, as well as adding multiple events to raise awareness and understanding. In partnership with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, we released new tools for communities to improve enforcement of domestic violence protective orders. Civil Protection Orders: A Guide for Improving Practice will keep victims and their children safe by providing guidance to advocates, attorneys, judges, law enforcement officers and prosecutors to ensure that protective orders are issued, served and enforced throughout the United States. This Guide significantly updates and revises the original Guide for Effective Issuance & Enforcement of Protection Orders (aka The Burgundy Book) issued in 2005. It is available on our website.
The Office on Violence Against Women worked with Attorney General Holder to re-charter the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women (NAC) to provide advice and recommendations to the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services on how to improve the nation’s response to violence against women, with a specific focus on successful interventions with children and teens who witness and/or are victimized by domestic violence or sexual assault. The committee includes highly regarded advocates, justice system and child welfare professionals, and researchers.
Just prior to the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Defending Childhood Initiative was launched by Attorney General Eric Holder to protect children from the harmful consequences of experiencing and witnessing violence. The goals of the initiative are to prevent children’s exposure to violence as victims and witnesses, mitigate the negative effects experienced by children exposed to violence, and develop knowledge about and increase awareness of this issue.
OVW worked with the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to develop the “Sexual Assault Kit Backlog Action Research Project” to identify long term solutions to eliminating the backlog of untested sexual assault kits that have not yet been submitted to a crime laboratory.
In partnership with the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) and other national organizations, OVW launched a new virtual resource for employers to address the impacts of domestic violence in the workplace. “Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sexual Violence: A National Resource Center” provides information, resources, tools, and technical assistance to employers and labor organizations to facilitate and encourage safer and more effective responses to employees who are victims of domestic, sexual and dating violence or stalking. The website can be found at: www.workplacesrespond.org.
I am also pleased to report that in response to the tremendous need of victims to have access to competent legal services, the Department of Justice, with assistance from the White House, launched “Access to Justice for Domestic Violence Victims.” The goal of this pilot project is to encourage more commitment from the private bar to provide pro bono legal services. Beginning in New Orleans and Baltimore, private law firms will hire law students who have participated in law school clinics and defer their start dates while they work at domestic violence service providers. The lawyers will help victims secure protective orders, navigate the family courts, and access safe housing.
Finally, the Office on Violence Against Women held a Department of Justice-wide Domestic Violence event that included a viewing of “Telling Amy’s Story,” a film produced by the Verizon Foundation and Penn State Public Broadcasting and released in May 2010, following a domestic violence homicide in College Park, PA that occurred in 2002. The film was followed by a facilitated discussion led by Detective Deirdri Fishel, featured in the film, about the importance of a coordinated, collaborative response to domestic violence.
As Domestic Violence Awareness Month has now closed, we begin our focus on April: Sexual Assault Awareness Month. When the Violence Against Women Act was passed in 1994, sexual assault was included as one of the crimes to be addressed. There is a general consensus, however, that for a variety of reasons, sexual assault has not received the same level of attention as has domestic violence. As a result, sexual assault remains a tragically pervasive and costly problem.
In preparation for what we hope to be a very effective Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April, we wanted to begin a national conversation about sexual violence: what it looks like now, and what we want to be able to accomplish in the next five years. With this in mind, OVW was proud to collaborate with the White House Council on Women and Girls to host a first-ever national sexual violence Roundtable. Advocates, law enforcement, judges, survivors, prosecutors, medical professionals and federal employees travelled from all across the country to heighten our discussions as well as develop a plan of action to address this unacceptable epidemic. While advocates and experts from the field discussed a public awareness campaign, federal experts were able to listen to the needs of the stakeholders on the ground and hear how the federal government can and should heighten their assistance to address sexual violence in America. The Roundtable allowed those in the field and at the national level to effectively communicate how each can help the other to achieve mutual success, both at the local and the national level, by establishing next steps to ultimately end sexual violence against women.
It is clear from our discussions, as well as the comments from the champions of this cause in the White House, that awareness must be a cornerstone to our actions moving forward. For many community members our advocates and experts interact with each day, the myths of sexual violence are prevalent and hard to un-learn. Contrary to what many Americans believe, sexual violence does not just occur in dark alleys, perpetrated by strangers. Sadly sexual violence is often perpetrated by someone known to the victim, in places where the victim feels the safest, such as at home or at a friend’s home. Sexual violence spans every demographic: every race, socioeconomic background, geographic location, sexual orientation, and age group. On average, one in six women will be sexually assault in her lifetime. For certain populations such as for women on college campus, in assisted living facilities and on Native American lands, this number increases to staggering levels. As President Obama stated: “It is simply unacceptable.”
In a country that has made such progress in addressing domestic violence, it is a moral imperative that we develop a national dialogue and focus on ending sexual violence against all women, children and men. As we continue our multi-disciplinary conversations about sexual violence in America, we will be asking for assistance from every member of the community. It will require each and every one of us to end this tragic problem. And as Vice President Biden stated at the White House last month, “It’s not about reducing; it’s about ending.” It’s not only time, it’s beyond time.
With deep respect and gratitude,
Susan B. Carbon
OVW Director
U.S. Department of Justice
We remind all those in need of assistance, or other concerned friends and individuals, to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE.
Dear Friends,
This past month, we joined the global community that recognized the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Each day, women and girls are attacked around the globe. Issues of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking are at epidemic proportions locally, as well as internationally. Across the world, at least one in three women and girls is domestically abused or sexually assaulted in her lifetime. Approximately four million women and girls are trafficked for prostitution annually. The Office on Violence Against Women and its partners are actively working to end these horrific crimes.
This past month the Office on Violence Against Women had the privilege of serving as the United States’ official observers at the Council of Europe’s Convention on Violence Against Women (the Council). There, we were able to contribute constructively to the important work of ending violence against women throughout Europe.
The Council had been charged with developing a visionary convention that would bind all 47 member-nations to provisions that will, collectively, bring an end to violence against women in Europe, specifically domestic violence, by the end of 2010. The final agreement is expected to be complete by the end of the year for subsequent ratification by all 47 countries in the Council. As observers, we were able to contribute thoughts and suggestions for the final document such as the importance of firearms restrictions in domestic violence civil and criminal cases, as well as protection orders. As we reported last month, the Office on Violence Against Women, in partnership with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, released new tools for communities to improve enforcement of protective orders. Civil Protection Orders: A Guide for Improving Practice will keep victims and their children safe by providing guidance to advocates, attorneys, judges, law enforcement officers and prosecutors to ensure that protective orders are issued, served and enforced throughout the United States. We offered this as an example of collaborative work in the United States that promotes a victim-centered approach to domestic violence and sexual assault cases. We are looking forward to the full dissemination and utilization of the document in the coming months. With President Obama’s his remarks at Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we are proud to be setting the standard internationally on the use of civil protection orders.
Commemoration of International Violence Against Women Day gives us pause to remember that all governments have more to do in fundamentally changing the way we address violence against women around the world. As Vice President Biden stated in his statement on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women:
For every woman who has been beaten in her own home, for the millions of women who have been raped as a weapon of war, for every girl who has been attacked on her way to school, for all of the children - girls and boys - who have witnessed this brutality, we must do better.
Last week, we also joined the international community in celebrating World AIDS Day. Nearly 33 million individuals worldwide are infected with HIV/AIDS, nearly half of them women. The face of global HIV/AIDS is quickly becoming young and female. More than 75% of youth living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa are young women and girls. In Indonesia, in 1989, women accounted for just 2.5 percent of all people living with HIV/AIDS according to the National Commission on AIDS. By 2009, women accounted for 25.5 percent of all cases.
The connection between the spread of this catastrophic virus and violence against women is undeniable. For the millions of women living with HIV/AIDS, sexual assault is often the cause of their infection. Studies have shown that women living with HIV are more likely to have experienced violence, and women who have experienced violence are at greater risk for HIV infection worldwide. The stigma of HIV-positive status tends to impact a victim’s willingness to report violence. Dually, the stigma and fear of a victim’s experience with sexual assault often impacts her willingness to report HIV status or seek testing, and further reducing the likelihood she will seek or receive services, thus perpetuating the vicious cycle.
As President Obama stated in his proclamation of World AIDS Day:
More than one million Americans currently live with HIV/AIDS in the United States, and more than 56,000 become infected each year. For too long, this epidemic has loomed over our Nation and our world, taking a devastating toll on some of the most vulnerable among us. On World AIDS Day, we mourn those we have lost and look to the promise of a brighter future and a world without HIV/AIDS.
On a completely separate note, we are very excited to announce that our Office has moved. We are now located at 145 N Street NE, Suite 10W.121, Washington, DC 20530 along with many other parts of the Justice Department. Please be certain to make a note of our new address. All phone numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses will remain the same.
Finally, I would like to extend my best wishes to everyone for a healthy, safe and peaceful holiday season and New Year. All of us at OVW are grateful for all the work you do, every day, to create meaningful justice in your communities. We couldn’t do it without you.
Happy Holidays!
Susan B. Carbon
OVW Director
U.S. Department of Justice
We remind all those in need of assistance, or other concerned friends and individuals, to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE.
