Fight violence against women “as it travels”, says Mukasey

A block away from the Potomac River at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Attorney General Michael Mukasey lauded the Office of Violence Against Women’s (OVW) efforts to fight sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, and domestic violence across the country at the second Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Regional Summit.

“Let me be clear. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is committed to fighting violence against women,” Mukasey said.

According to Mukasey, since its founding in October 2003, the President’s Family Justice Center Initiative has granted $20 million to 15 communities across the country for a pilot program that will develop and implement service and support for domestic violence victims. As an example, Mukasey described the center in New Orleans where victims can speak with police, lawyers, therapists, or councilors, as well as file court documents “under one roof.”

The Domestic Violence Intervention Division in the Sheriff’s Office of Prince George’s County, Md., has received funding from the DOJ since 2004 through the Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors (STOP) grant program. With the funding, the sheriffls office has been able to establish a victim’s advocate unit that runs 24/7 and specializes in domestic violence 911 calls.

OVW has helped find the best strategies for fighting violence against women and shared these strategies with communities across the country, Mukasey said. This is important because all women should feel safe in every corner of the U.S. Washington, D.C. can serve as a model for the rest of the country, Mukasey said.