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 the Ohio Alliance To End Sexual Violence $949,751 under the Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Assistance Program (CFDA 16.589) on October 1, 2025, through a project grant that extends to September 30, 2028.

This continuation award funds the identification, assessment, and response to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking in rural Ohio communities. The recipient operates as Ohio's statewide sexual assault coalition and delivers victim services including legal assistance for civil protection orders and housing matters, transitional and rapid rehousing for survivors experiencing housing insecurity, and rural community outreach through law enforcement and victim service provider collaborations.

Performance occurs in Cleveland, Ohio. The Forensic Nursing Network, Inc., serves as a sub-recipient, providing didactic education and simulated sexual assault examination training to 32 nurses over the three-year period. The nurses, working in rural communities, receive one-on-one clinical training from a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner-Advanced (SANE-A) instructor and complete three state-approved kit-based exams to develop sexual assault forensic medical examination capacity in rural areas.

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 continuation OVW rural program project, ohio alliance to end sexual violence (OAESV), in partnership with the forensic nursing network, will implement the OAESV uplifting rural voices of ohio project. This victim service, forensic nursing, and sexual assault response teams project addresses the following purpose areas: 1, 2, 3, and 4 for auglaize, clinton, coshocton, fayette, highland, marion, pike, preble, ross, scioto, and shelby counties in ohio. Specific activities will include: 1) providing services to rural areas without a rape crisis center and to survivors with conflicts of interest with rural rape crisis centers; 2) targeting rural counties for service and coordinated community response team development, engagement, and sustainability; 3) increasing education and awareness of sexual violence in rural areas through survivor storytelling through a partnership with and independent contractor; and 4) providing forensic nursing clinical simulation trainings to increase the number of sanes in rural counties.