Tribal Communities

Violence Against Women in Indian Country | Tribal Coalitions Program | Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) | Other OVW Programs for Tribal Communities

In 2010, U.S. residents age 12 or older experienced an estimated 20 million violent and property victimizations, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). (NCJ 235508) These criminal victimizations included an estimated 4.3 million violent crimes defined as rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault. Almost 126,000 of the 1.4 million serious violent crimes were rapes and assaults. While this number has decreased over the last few years it is still shows that too many women are endangered and suffering.

According to Amnesty International  “violence against women is one of the most pervasive human rights abuses. It is also one of the most hidden. It takes place in intimate relationships, within the family and at the hands of strangers and it affects women in every country in the world…. Indigenous peoples in the USA face deeply entrenched marginalization – the result of a long history of systemic and pervasive abuse and persecution. Sexual violence against Indigenous women today is informed and conditioned by this legacy of widespread and egregious human rights abuses.”

American Indians are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault crimes compared to all other races, and one in three Indian women reports having been raped during her lifetime. ⁽¹⁾

The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) currently administers 21 grant programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and subsequent legislation. These grant programs are designed to continue to develop the nation's capacity to reduce domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by strengthening services to victims and holding offenders accountable for their actions.  Presently four of these programs are targeted to Native American populations and tribes and are detailed within this section.

1 Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women
Patricia Tjaden & Nancy Thoennes, US Department of Justice, 2000.

The Grants to Indian Tribal Governments Program (Tribal Governments Program), authorized in Title IX of the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 (VAWA 2005), is designed to enhance the ability of tribes to respond to violent crimes against Indian women, enhance victim safety, and develop education and prevention strategies.
This program awards funds to:

Develop and enhance effective plans for tribal governments to respond to violence committed against Indian women;

Strengthen the tribal criminal justice system;

Improve services available to help Indian women who are victims of violence;

Create community education and prevention campaigns;

Address the needs of children who witness domestic violence;

Provide supervised visitation and safe exchange programs;

Provide transitional housing assistance; and

Provide legal advice and representation to survivors of violence who need assistance with legal issues caused by the abuse or the violence they suffered.

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The Tribal Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalitions Grant Program (Tribal Coalitions Program), authorized in the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 (VAWA 2000), builds the capacity of survivors, advocates, Indian women's organizations, and victim service providers to form nonprofit, nongovernmental tribal domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions to end violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women.

OVW's Tribal Coalitions Program grants are used to:

Increase awareness of domestic violence and sexual assault against American Indian and Alaska Native women;

Enhance the response to violence against women at the tribal, federal, and state levels; and

Identify and provide technical assistance to coalition membership and tribal communities to enhance access to essential services.

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During fiscal year 2014-2015, hundreds of American Indian and Alaskan Native communities received over $530 million to enhance law enforcement, bolster justice systems, prevent youth substance abuse, serve sexual assault and elder victims, and support other efforts to combat crime. These grants are the first under the Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS), a new effort combining 9 different Department of Justice grant programs into a single solicitation.

CTAS includes most of the tribal programs from the Department's Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). The programs served 9 purpose areas and tribes were able to submit a single application while selecting multiple purpose areas, ranging from juvenile justice to violence against women.

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The Sexual Assault Demonstration Initiative (SADI) is the first large-scale project to address the challenges dual/multi-service programs face in reaching sexual assault survivors by dedicating resources, support, and replicable tools tailored specifically to the needs of those programs. The SADI will develop a range of innovative outreach tools, service models, and agency structures to discover best practices and needed action in reaching more sexual assault survivors with comprehensive quality care. Selected sites will receive funding and technical assistance to:
Increase outreach to those populations most likely experiencing sexual assault in their communities but not currently accessing services;

Develop models of service provision that prioritize the needs of sexual assault survivors beyond immediate crisis responses currently offered; and

Assess and document the efficacy of those steps in increasing the numbers and types of sexual assault survivors who access those newly enhanced services.

SADI FAQs

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