Katharine Sullivan of the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women Delivers: "A Central Component of Project Safe Neighborhoods is That Safe Neighborhoods Begin with Safe Homes"
Welcome everyone to the 19th Annual International Family Justice Center Conference. We have Centers represented from 40 states and 10 countries this week. It’s particularly exciting to be part of a conference that measures ACES, hope, resiliency, collective hope, and wellbeing in its conference attendees. Hope is going to increase in your life this week by being at this conference. Thank you to Casey Gwinn, Gael Strack, and the entire Alliance for HOPE team for convening this tremendous gathering.
On June 15th 2018, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)'s Katharine (Katie) Sullivan, middle, participated with the US Department of Homeland Security to support Operation Limelight USA at Dulles International Airport, right
Improving the criminal justice response to domestic violence and sexual violence is the backbone of VAWA. Collaborative work that brings all the players in the justice system together with victim services is the heart. Family Justice Centers represent the best of this work —strengthening law enforcement, prosecution, offender accountability, and victim safety by working together to meet victims where they are. Adults and children, women and men, vulnerable people struggling to overcome challenges like substance abuse or human trafficking — Family Justice Centers are on the front lines welcoming survivors to take shelter in crisis. But you don’t stop there. You provide the tools and support that take survivors from fear to hope, from insecurity to self-sufficiency.
Inspired by your creativity and innovation, I prioritize visits to Family Justice Centers. Family Justice Centers in places such as Denver, Anaheim, and Brooklyn have taught me so much about how you all are meeting the unique needs facing your communities. I just came back from Brooklyn, where I met with the lead prosecutor of the Brooklyn Family Justice Center, Michelle Kaminsky. Michelle told me about their Early Victim Engagement program, which helps reduce violent crime by contacting victims of domestic violence immediately after a defendant is arraigned. Brooklyn’s Early Victim Engagement pilot initiative was so successful in increasing victim participation in prosecution and subsequent rates of conviction that the program was adopted by other New York boroughs.
I was also excited to hear about the culturally specific work the Brooklyn Family Justice Center is doing. One of their attorneys works closely with Muslim and immigrant communities, tackling complicated issues like female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C). FGM/C, is one of the most devastating forms of violence against women. We must stand together to demand zero tolerance for FGM/C. Just last week I was honored to be at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women where I spoke on a panel about FGM/C. It is a problem right here in the United States. The CDC estimates 513,000 women and girls have suffered or are at risk of FGM/C in the U.S. OVW funds incredible local service providers, like Nisaa African Family Services, a grantee addressing FGM/C in a sensitive, culturally appropriate way as part of their work on sexual assault and domestic violence in African-diaspora communities in Iowa.
When I first learned about Family Justice Centers and the benefits of co-location, I immediately thought of how perfectly positioned they are to address the very challenging issue of survivors struggling with substance abuse. OVW was excited to award $450,000 to the Alliance for HOPE in partnership with the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma and Mental Health to create trauma-informed approaches to helping survivors who come to Family Justice Centers and request help with substance use issues. For too long, survivors have been shamed, blamed, ostracized, and denied services when they come to agencies for help while actively using drugs and alcohol as part of their coping strategies or because perpetrators kept them hooked as part of a pattern of power and control. We need to change that and I believe Family Justice Centers will lead the way in providing collocated substance abuse and victim services.
OVW is also proud to support the Alliance for Hope’s Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention. Last October, 1,000 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents learned about the connection between stranglers and killers of law enforcement officers in this country. We must continue to investigate and prosecute the most dangerous abusers, including those who strangle, stalk, or use illegal firearms against their victims.
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