OVW Conferral Series: Gathering public input to meet VAWA needs

In our effort to end sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, the Office on Violence Against Women turns to advocates, survivors, practitioners, academic experts, and others with lived experience to guide our work. 

Through many types of conversations, we hear directly from you, our grantees and constituents. One of our most important ways of conferring with you is through biennial listening sessions.

Hearing your experience with the grant programs and services provided under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) tells us what you need. It also illuminates what is working – and what is not. As the people who are out there every day implementing VAWA, you have a unique perspective on what we should focus on next and what we can do to improve our own practices here at OVW.

I hope you will join us for this year’s conferral series, which consists of four one-hour listening session webinars on Thursday afternoons starting in September.

This year we are focusing on four topics:

• unmet needs;
• emerging trends;
• administration of grants; and
• promising practices in the field.

The input we receive on these topics will help determine where federal resources can be applied to help more people, which is critically important as we strive to meet the needs of individuals who have been marginalized or underserved in our communities. We need your input on how to best address the nuanced experiences of survivors and complex needs in the field, including solutions beyond the justice system or standard victim services.

Because we use these sessions to shape future decisions about our programs, we also share what we hear in a report to Congress that helps inform lawmakers about what is happening in the field.

You do not need to be an OVW grantee to join the conversation. We are always interested in hearing from people who are not recipients of our awards so we can do more to meet currently unmet needs.

Registration is not necessary, simply join the webinars using the link provided. All webinars will have live stream closed captioning in English and live interpretation in Spanish. If you would like to participate in any language other than English or Spanish, or need any other accommodation, please contact us at OVW.Conferrals@usdoj.gov at least 14 days in advance of the webinar.

Finally, if you are unable to join us during the live sessions, you can send comments to OVW at OVW.Conferrals@usdoj.gov. Please indicate the webinar title in the subject line of your email.

The time is now to make meaningful changes in the wake of the pandemic and with the Biden-Harris Administration’s support for addressing gender-based violence and racial equity. We hope to hear from you as we take the next steps to prevent and end sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.