WASHINGTON, DC - In an effort to prevent domestic violence, hold offenders accountable, and ensure that victims have access to supportive services, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today announced that the Rhode Island Justice Commission (RIJC) is receiving $908,000 in federal funding for its STOP (Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Program. Federal STOP grants help promote a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to improving the criminal justice system's response to violent crimes against women.

"This STOP Violence Against Women Program funding will help police officers, prosecutors, and local shelters work together and coordinate their efforts to help victims and prevent domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. These federal funds will help law enforcement officers protect victims of domestic violence and bring their abusers to justice," said Reed, a member of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds Department of Justice programs. Last year Reed helped secure $880,000 in STOP grant funding for Rhode Island.

U.S. government statistics reveal that one in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime and one in six women will experience an attempted or completed rape at some time in her life. An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year.

Senator Reed has been a strong supporter of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and cosponsored legislation which became law in January of 2006 that extended and enhanced this important law. He also was among those who successfully resisted former President George W. Bush's attempts to cut funding for VAWA by nearly a third for the current fiscal year.