Building Knowledge through Research

Do specialized sexual assault units in police agencies produce better investigations? What are American Indian women’s experiences when they report their victimization to police or talk with an advocate? How many more domestic violence victims make it out alive in jurisdictions where firearms surrender laws are consistently enforced against their abusers? What are some of the most cost-effective approaches to preventing and responding to domestic and sexual violence? How should colleges and universities handle sexual assaults on their campuses?

For police, advocates, prosecutors, judges, and others, answers to these types of questions have a direct impact on how they work with victims in their communities. They want to know which approaches or interventions save lives and make communities safer, and they need good research to rely on in shaping solutions and focusing their limited resources. For victims, the extent to which services they receive meet their needs affects their safety, recovery, and pursuit of justice.

Therefore, the Office on Violence Against Women's (OVW) 2015 funding announcements reflect a significant focus on ways of serving victims and holding offenders accountable that research has demonstrated are effective, as well as strategies that look promising and deserve a closer look. But to build our knowledge of what works, we need fresh and relevant research. I encourage you to review, and pass along to your colleagues, current funding announcements from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). These solicitations are open to applicants proposing research and evaluation projects related to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking:

NIJ FY15 Research and Evaluation on Firearms Violence Reduction 

NIJ seeks proposals for research and evaluation of programs, practices, and policies designed to reduce firearms violence. This solicitation aims to strengthen our knowledge base and improve public safety by supporting projects with a high potential for accurately measuring the effects of efforts to reduce firearms violence. Such firearms violence reduction efforts may take any of a variety of forms, including but not limited to, those that emphasize law enforcement, prosecution, prevention, public health, or public policy. (NIJ-2015-4052) Deadline: April 27, 2015

NIJ FY15 Research and Evaluation on Violence Against Women: Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence

NIJ is seeking proposals for research and evaluation on violence against women, and specifically intimate partner and sexual violence. For example, NIJ is interested in proposals to examine the effectiveness of specialized police and court-based units, services, and methods related to intimate partner and sexual violence. NIJ is also interested in research on the development, adaptation, and testing of screening tools used for the identification of intimate partner violence in family court proceedings—specifically for cases involving child custody. Although specific areas of interest have been identified, other topics that offer important insights into violence against women will also be accepted for review. (NIJ-2015-4029) Deadline: April 7, 2015

NIJ FY15 Building and Enhancing Criminal Justice Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships

NIJ is seeking proposals for criminal justice research and evaluation that includes a researcher-practitioner partnership component. Through researcher-practitioner partnerships, criminal justice practitioners can gain new skills in assessing programs and measuring outcomes. Likewise, criminal justice researchers can better understand the goals and purposes criminal justice practitioners seek to achieve. Ultimately, these partnerships provide criminal justice practitioners with practice- and policy-relevant information while affording researchers the opportunity to contribute to the current body of knowledge. (NIJ-2015-3990) Deadline: April 20, 2015

NIJ FY 15 Research and Evaluation Examining Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women: Domestic Violence, Homicide, Intimate Partner Violence, Sex Trafficking, Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Teen Dating Violence

NIJ is seeking proposals for research and evaluation that will examine violence and victimization experienced by American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) women living in Indian Country and Alaska Native villages to produce a deeper understanding of the issues faced by Native American women and help formulate public policies and prevention strategies to decrease the incidence of violent crimes committed against AI and AN women. NIJ is especially interested in research and evaluation related to violence against AI and AN women in the areas of domestic violence, homicide, intimate partner violence, sex trafficking, sexual violence, stalking, and teen dating violence. (NIJ-2015-3978) Deadline: April 15, 2015

NIJ FY15 Secondary Analysis of the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) Data: General Population and American Indian and Alaska Native Samples

NIJ is seeking proposals for secondary data analysis of the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) data. Noting a critical need for a national surveillance system that would produce frequent, consistent, and reliable data on the magnitude and nature of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking using consistent definitions and survey methods to evaluate trends over time, the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCICP), in collaboration with NIJ and the Department of Defense (DOD), developed NISVS. The collaborative effort among federal agencies was motivated by the need to improve our understanding of IPV, SV, and stalking in the civilian, military, and American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) populations. (NIJ-2015-3977) Deadline: April 9, 2015

NIJ FY15 Research and Evaluation on the Investigation and Adjudication of Campus Sexual Assault

NIJ is seeking proposals for research and evaluation related to the investigation and adjudication of sexual assaults on college and university campuses. The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault identified a need to improve understanding of current practices in campus investigation and judicial decisionmaking involving student-on-student sexual assault. In response, NIJ is seeking proposals to examine: current or new investigation practices and protocols used in the handling of campus sexual assault cases; and/or current or new adjudication practices and protocols used in the handling of campus sexual assault cases. (NIJ-2015-4028) Deadline: April 6, 2015

Additionally, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is accepting applications to its Visiting Fellows Program:

BJA Visiting Fellows Program

Through the Visiting Fellows Program, BJA announces plans to invest in the field to advance priority national policy issues and offer cross developmental opportunities for DOJ staff and practitioners and researchers in the criminal justice field. Awards made under the BJA Visiting Fellows Program will fund fellowships for a total period of 12–18 months, including a residency period of at least 6–12 months onsite at BJA in Washington, D.C. The goal of the fellowship is to make important policy and programmatic contributions in a priority area of criminal justice practice. Fellows will work in collaboration with BJA and DOJ staff to help provide critical outreach, data, research, and subject-matter expertise to inform the development of new BJA strategies and programs to benefit the field. This program is likely to be funded under Economic High-Tech and Cyber Crime Prevention, Services for Trafficking Victims, Second Chance Act, Prison Rape Elimination Act, and Swift and Certain Sanctions/Replicating the Concepts Behind Project HOPE. Deadline: April 2, 2015