The United States Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) was created following the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994. The Act was renewed in 2005, 2013 and again in 2022."House Renews Violence Against Women Amidst GOP Fissures". The New York Times. February 28, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2013. The Violence Against Women Act legislation requires the Office on Violence Against Women to work to respond to and reduce violence against women in many different areas, including on college campuses and in people's homes. VAWA requires Office on Violence Against Women to administer justice and strengthen services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
The Office on Violence Against Women is headed by a director, who is appointed by the President"DOJ: JMD: Mission and Functions Manual" Office on Violence Against Women. Retrieved 2013-03-23."2003 OJP Press Release". Diane Stuart to Serve as Acting Director of the Office on Violence Against Women. February 3, 2003. Retrieved 2013-03-23. and confirmed by the Senate. The principal deputy director serves directly under the director, as do the deputy directors. Until January 2017, Bea Hanson, Ph.D., was the acting director and principal deputy director. When Hanson resigned in January 2017, Deputy Director Nadine M. Neufville became acting director.
As an office in the United States Department of Justice, the Office on Violence Against Women receives federal funding for federal grants that are awarded to communities across America. These grants are used to create successful partnerships between federal, state, tribal, and local authorities as well as provide helpful services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. During fiscal year 2017, Office on Violence Against Women awarded $450,000,000 of grants."Grant Programs" USDOJ: Office on Violence Against Women: Grant Programs. Retrieved March 23, 2013."FY 2017 OVW Grant Awards by Program". Office on Violence Against Women. United States Department of Justice. Retrieved February 23, 2018. For example, Sexual Assault Services Program assists victims of sexual assault and family members affected by it."2013 Campus Program" Retrieved March 23, 2013. Since its inception, Office on Violence Against Women has awarded over $6 billion in grants directed towards such projects.
Organization The Office on Violence Against Women is headed by a director. The principal deputy director serves under the director, and the deputy director for tribal affairs under the principal deputy director. On the third and lowest tier of the office rests Training and Technical Assistance, Program Development and Evaluation and Demonstration/Special Projects.
Director Former Iowa Attorney General Bonnie Campbell was appointed the first director of the Office on Violence Against Women in March 1995."Capital Watch". The Seattle Times. March 21, 1995. p. A4."Metro Briefs". Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (Cedar Falls, Iowa). October 7, 2017.
Diane Stuart became director of the Office on Violence Against Women in October 2001."UPI's Capital Comment for Feb. 4, 2003". United Press International. February 4, 2003."Utah woman named to federal violence post". Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah). September 8, 2001. Stuart had been helping victims of domestic violence since 1989, and she worked as Utah Governor Mike Leavitt's Coordinator for Domestic Violence since 1996. Stuart created Utah's first mobile crisis team; trained police officers would arrive at crime scenes to counsel victims and offer resources.
The 2002 authorization bill for the United States Department of Justice elevated the position to a presidential appointment requiring confirmation by the Senate. The Director serves as the liaison between the Federal, state, tribal, and international governments in regards to matters concerning Violence Against Women (i.e., crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking)."USU Alumni Spotlight - Diane Stuart " Utah State University. September 2003. Retrieved March 18, 2013."" Office on Violence Against Women Director . USDOJ website. Retrieved 2013-03-18."Office on Violence Against Women Acting Director" . USDOJ website. Retrieved March 18, 2013. The Director also serves in that role internationally, with Native American tribes in the country, and within other offices of the United States Federal Government. The Director reports to the Attorney General and is responsible for the legal and policy provisions that are implemented under the Violence Against Women Act."Reports to Congress" . USDOJ website. Retrieved March 18, 2013. The Director of the Office on Violence Against Women also has ultimate control over all grants, cooperative agreements and contracts that the Office on Violence Against Women issues, and oversees a budget of almost $400 million.
List of directors # Name Years servedNotes 1 1995–2001 Campbell was appointed the first director of the Office on Violence Against Women in March 1995. 2 2001–2006 Stuart was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001, and then officially nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate in 2003"Statement of Diane Stuart's Resignation". Office on Violence Against Women . United States Department of Justice. September 6, 2006. Retrieved March 20, 2013. (under the new provisions of the Office that mandate a formal nomination). As Director, Stuart increased grant and cooperative agreement awards by fifty percent, implemented the President's Family Justice Center Initiative, and developed the Safety for Indian Women Initiative. Under her supervision, the Office on Violence Against Women also developed and implemented the Judicial Demonstration Oversight Initiative, the "Greenbook" Initiative, and the Supervised Visitation Demonstration Program. 3 Mary Beth Buchanan 2006–2007"Buchanan Farewell Message". Retrieved 2013-03-20."National Advisory Committee Minutes". Retrieved March 20, 2013. Buchanan (acting director) is a graduate of California University of Pennsylvania (1984) and of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (1987). With her guidance as Director, the Office on Violence Against Women opened the New Orleans Family Justice Center as part of the Family Justice Center concept, launched the National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline "USDOJ Observes National Teen Violence Awareness and Prevention Week". USDOJ website. Retrieved March 20, 2013. and released PSAs to increase education about domestic abuse. 4 2007–2009"Cindy Dyer Appointment Announcement". Office on Violence Against Women. United States Department of Justice. January 3, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2013."Biography of Cindy Dyer". The American Law Institute. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Dyer was nominated by President George W. Bush in August 2007 and confirmed by the Senate in December 2007."Resources for the President's Team". Results.gov for George W. Bush. Retrieved March 20, 2013. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University, B.A. and Baylor Law School, J.D. Under her direction, the OVW awarded money to Tribal Governments for the first time under the Grants to Indian Tribal Governments Program. The National Domestic Violence Hotline also received its two-millionth call while Dyer was Director of the Office on Violence Against Women. 5 2009–2010"Catherine Pierce, Acting Director" . USDOJ website. Retrieved March 20, 2013. Pierce was designated acting director by President Barack Obama in January 2009. She had also previously served in that role from January to October 2001. She joined the OVW in 1995 as one of original staff members,"Catherine Pierce's Remarks at Stop Violence Against Women and State Coalitions Conference" . Office of Violence Against Women. Retrieved March 20, 2013. and started working as the deputy director of the office in 1997."Cindy Dyer Farewell Message Cindy Dyer Farewell Message". USDOJ website. Retrieved March 20, 2013. In that capacity, she was responsible for public outreach and communications; helped launch OVW's Sexual Assault Services Program and the Culturally and Linguistically Specific Services Program; developed new grant programs created by the Violence Against Women Act; created the Office on Violence Against Women's technical assistance program; oversaw numerous demonstration initiatives; and implemented a comprehensive effort to measure the effectiveness of the Office on Violence Against Women's grant programs. 6 2010–2012 "Susan Carbon Official Bio" . Office on Violence Against Women website. Retrieved March 20, 2013. Judge Carbon was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009 and confirmed by the Senate in early 2010. During her tenure as Director, the Office on Violence Against Women continued to press for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act."OVW Blog" . Office on Violence Against Women website. Retrieved 2013-03-23. While she was in Office, the Office on Violence Against Women also worked on the Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative "Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative" . Office on Violence Against Women website. March 23, 2013. and helped to elevate the discussion of sexual violence, including the redefining of rape in the Universal Crime Reporting Summer Reporting System."Revised Rape Definition". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved March 24, 2013. With her guidance, the Office on Violence Against Women also launched the Sexual Assault Demonstration Initiative,"Sexual Assault Demonstration Initiative". Office on Violence Against Women website. Retrieved March 23, 2013. wrestled with reform for family courts regarding domestic violence, and expanded the Office on Violence Against Women's sphere internationally 7 2012–2017Hanson served as the Acting Director of the Office on Violence Against Women until January 2017. Previously, she worked as the Principal Deputy Director of the Office on Violence Against Women (2011–2012). Her goals for her tenure as Acting Director were to maintain the financial commitments the Office had made to prevent and respond to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking; to increase support for victims of sexual assault via expanding support services and improving the criminal justice system's response to sexual assault; to expand education about rape and its impact; to continue with the Office on Violence Against Women's initiative to reduce the rate of domestic violence homicide; and to provide appropriate services for low-income communities. She succeeded in what was her final goal: to encourage Congress to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, as President Obama reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act in March 2013. – (acting) 2017–2019 Neufville has served as the Acting Director and deputy director of the Office on Violence Against Women since Hanson's resignation in January 2017 – (acting) 2019–2021 – (acting) 2021–2023 8 2023–2025
Grant programs The Office on Violence Against Women administers approximately 24 grant programs. Twenty programs use discretionary grant funds and four use formula grant funds. The Office can determine both how discretionary funds will be used and in what context. formula grants are must be distributed according to how the legislation describes. In order to receive funding under the formula grant program, the grant applicant must meet certain standards and qualifications.
Current formula grant programs