The rural domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking program (rural program) is authorized by 34 U.S.C. 12341

The Alaska Native Women's Resource Center (ANWRC) was awarded a $700,000 Project Grant under the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Assistance Program (CFDA 16.589). This 36-month grant will fund the "Improving Sexual Assault Services Awareness and Access in Rural Alaska through the Alaska Native Village Culturally Based Sexual Assault Training Project."

The project aims to: 1) Create new Alaska Native village-centered training for first responders and community members on accessing state/tribal justice system responses, forensic nursing services, and culturally specific healing services for rural Alaska Native sexual assault survivors; 2) Increase access to trauma-informed, victim-centered, culturally specific sexual assault response training to improve awareness and understanding of the state's Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) process; 3) Improve outreach and education to rural Alaska Native victims/survivors about available state/tribal justice options, forensic nursing, and culturally specific healing services; and 4) Hire a Program Coordinator to manage the project activities. This effort is designed to address the unique challenges faced by underserved Alaska Native villages without access to emergency sexual assault response services.

Rural program funds are used to support programs that: 1) identify, assess, and appropriately respond to child, youth, and adult victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking in rural communities by encouraging collaboration among victim service providers, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, courts, other criminal justice service providers, human and community service providers, educational institutions, and health care providers; 2) establish and expand victim services in rural communities to child, youth, and adult victims; 3) increase the safety and well-being of women and children in rural communities, by (a) dealing directly and immediately with domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking; and (B) creating and implementing strategies to increase awareness and prevent these crimes; and 4) develop, expand, implement, and improve the quality of sexual assault forensic medical examination or sexual assault nurse examiner programs. Grantees must use at least one of the following strategies in implementing their projects: 1) implement, expand, and establish cooperative efforts and projects among law enforcement officers, prosecutors, victim service providers, and other related parties to investigate and prosecute incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; 2) provide treatment, counseling, advocacy, legal assistance, and other long-term and short-term victim and population specific services to adult and minor victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in rural communities; 3) work in cooperation with the community to develop education and prevention strategies directed toward such issues; 4) develop, enlarge, or strengthen programs addressing sexual assault; and 5) develop programs and strategies that focus on the specific needs of victims of who reside in remote rural and geographically isolated areas. Through this new OVW rural program project, alaska native womens resource center, in partnership with alaska network on domestic violence and sexual assault (ANDVSA), will implement the improving sexual assault services awareness and access in rural alaska through the alaska native village culturally based sexual assault training project. This project addresses the following purpose areas: 1, 2, and 3 for all rural counties in alaska. Specifically, this project will: 1) create new alaska native village-centered training for first responders and other community members who engage with victims/survivors of sexual assault to ensure awareness and meaningful access to state and/or tribal justice system responses, forensic nursing services, and culturally specific healing services for rural alaska native survivors; 2) increase access to trauma-informed, victim-centered, culturally specific sexual assault response training to increase alaska native village first responder and community member awareness and understanding of the state of alaska sart response and how to engage with the process and improve meaningful access for rural alaska native sexual assault survivors to forensic nursing and culturally specific healing services; 3) improve outreach and education to rural alaska native victims and survivors of sexual assault about available state/tribal justice options, forensic nursing services, and culturally specific healing services; and 4) hire a program coordinator to manage the day-to-day project activities. The project will address the following priority areas: priority area 1: advance equity and tribal sovereignty and priority area 2: prevent and end sexual assault. This project targets underserved alaska native villages without access to emergency victim sexual assault response services. The timing for performance of this award is 36 months.