The office on violence against women (OVW) training and technical assistance (TA) initiative provides OVW grantees and subgrantees with the expertise and support they need to develop and implement…

The office on violence against women (OVW) training and technical assistance (TA) initiative provides OVW grantees and subgrantees with the expertise and support they need to develop and implement successful state, local, tribal, and campus projects; increase victim safety; and bolster offender accountability. Through cooperative agreements, OVW supports educational initiatives, conferences, peer-to-peer consultations, and targeted assistance that allow current and potential grantees and subgrantees to learn from experts and one another about how to overcome obstacles and incorporate promising practices in their efforts to address violence against women. In addition, OVW is focused on building the capacity of the criminal and civil justice systems and victim service organizations to respond effectively to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and to foster partnerships between organizations that have not traditionally worked together to address violence against women. With FY 2023 TA initiative funding, end violence against women international (evawi) will provide law enforcement with training and tools to effectively respond to allegations of sexual assault by using trauma-informed, victim-centered, and offender-focused approaches and investigative techniques with the goal of increasing the likelihood of successful investigations and prosecutions while avoiding RE-traumatizing victims. This project will improve investigations of sexual assault and the treatment of victims by providing in-depth training and TA to law enforcement agencies and community partner organizations by drawing on the expertise of investigators, prosecutors, and other subject matter experts. Over the course of the project period, evawi will provide direct technical assistance to OVW grantees, subgrantees, and potential grantees and subgrantees of the following programs: trauma-informed, victim-centered training for law enforcement (abby honold program), the improving the criminal justice responses program, and stop formula program. Evawi will identify existing training curricula, develop new training products, develop sample policies, protocols, and micro-courses, create a repository of resources on the evawi website (including current resources on trauma-informed investigations), and present project findings at the evawi annual conference. This project supports FY 2023 TA initiative purpose area 33: trauma-informed, victim-centered training for law enforcement this is a new award.