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

The Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women awarded $700,000 to Sitka Tribe of Alaska on October 1, 2025, under the Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Assistance Program (CFDA 16.589) to address domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking in rural Southeast Alaska through partnership with the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. Performance runs through September 30, 2028, with work performed in Sitka, Alaska. The Rural Program funds victim services and prevention strategies in rural communities, including identification and response to child, youth, and adult victims; expansion of victim services; increased safety and well-being of women and children; and development or improvement of sexual assault forensic medical examination or sexual assault nurse examiner programs. Grantees must implement at least one of five strategies, including cooperative efforts among law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim service providers; treatment, counseling, advocacy, and legal assistance; community-based education and prevention; sexual assault program development; or programs addressing the needs of victims in remote rural and geographically isolated areas. The award is project assistance and carries a three-year record retention requirement from the date of final expenditure report submission.

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; 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, sitka tribe of alaska, in partnership with the southeast alaska regional health consortium (SEARHC), sitkans against family violence (SAFV), and the sitka police department, will implement the coordinated response to sexual assault in rural alaska program. This victim service, sane/SART, and law enforcement project addresses the following purposes areas: 1, 2, 3, and 4 for sitka alaska and nearby southeast alaska villages. Specific activities will include: 1) coordinating trauma-informed, timely responses to victims of sexual assault; 2) facilitating regular meetings of the sitka child advocacy center (CAC) multidisciplinary team and the sitka sexual assault response team (SART); 3) recruiting, on-boarding, and training new SART members; 4) outfitting and operating a private, all-ages medical exam room at the CAC; 5) providing youth victim advocacy services at the CAC; 6) supporting training and simulation drills for all core SART agencies; 7) conducting debriefed case simulations and implementing response improvements; and 8) designing and launching three multimedia public awareness campaigns to improve access to services and reduce stigma. During the project, the recipient will develop the following products: training plans, simulation preparation documents, exam room orientation guide, SART protocols, flyers, posters, social media graphics, and other outreach materials.