Patchwork The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)

In this episode, Office on Violence Against Women grant specialist Jessica Neal interviews Dorian Johnson, formerly a project director at Spelman College in Georgia, to discuss how OVW funding through its Campus Program benefited students and provided new training opportunities to faculty and staff. Johnson and Neal also talk about the importance of OVW’s grants for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the vital role that technical assistance providers play in supporting grantees. 

In this episode, OVW’s Peer Review Working Group joins Patchwork to discuss an integral part of our grantee application review process – peer review. Peer review is a collection of experts from the field coming together to evaluate grant proposals based on the requirements outlined in each program’s solicitation. The working group also share answers to frequent questions that they receive, as well as contact and submission information for interested peer review applicants. Join Darlene Johnson, Neelam Patel, Myrta Charles, and Sandi Van Orden, as they shed light on this important step in award-making. 

In our first episode of the new year, Jennifer Landhuis, the Director of the Stalking Prevention and Resource Center (SPARC), joins Patchwork to discuss common misconceptions surrounding stalking, including how abusers are misusing technology. She also shares available resources for OVW grantees as well as the public to educate on stalking, identify when someone is being stalked, and help victims and survivors of stalking. 
The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) provides federal leadership in developing the national capacity to reduce violence against women and administer justice for and strengthen services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The Biden-Harris Administration shares OVW’s commitment to eliminating gender-based violence, both in-person and online. The White House recently issued a proclamation recognizing January as National Stalking Awareness Month in support of individuals who are threatened and harmed by the pervasive crime of stalking, in recognition of those who raise awareness and advocate for survivors, and in rededication to prevention efforts for a future without stalking. 

Ending gender-based violence requires effort from everyone. 
In this episode, Kellie Greene, a program specialist at OVW, joins Patchwork to share how her program seeks to engage children and men as allies in ending gender-based violence. As she puts it, the children of today will grow to become our future policy-makers, CEOs, and teachers, so educating them about the foundations of healthy relationships now will be instrumental in ending gender-based violence as they grow into their roles as future leaders. 

Human Trafficking is a crime that affects all socio-economic backgrounds and it does not discriminate based on race, education level, citizenship status or gender. 
In this episode, Savannah Sanders, the author of Sex Trafficking Prevention: A Trauma-Informed Approach for Parents and Professional and a survivor herself, joins Patchwork to share her story. She shares what she has learned about the field and how to help survivors of human trafficking on their paths of healing. 

One of the top priorities at DOJ is preventing violent crime. At OVW, one area we focus on specifically is sexual assault on campus. 
Jennifer Hirsch, professor of Sociomedical Sciences and steering committee member at Columbia University, and Shamus Khan, formerly professor and chair of Sociology at Columbia and now a professor at Princeton University, wrote a book titled “Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus.” In this episode, they join Patchwork to discuss issues they found that led to sexual assaults on campuses and describe how early education may help prevent gender-based violence.