NCJ Number
222453
Date Published
December 2008
Length
48 pages
Annotation
This report presents evaluation findings on the operation and outcomes of West Virginia’s STOP Violence Against Women Project.
Abstract
Most members of the 27 STOP teams and those involved in the 5 statewide initiatives reported that a collaborative response has been provided to female victims of violence in West Virginia, and many felt that the efficiency of services has been improved. Most respondents feel that the awareness and understanding of violence against women and its consequences has increased. Improvements suggested are additional training for all those responding to violence against women, particularly for law enforcement and prosecution personnel. Respondents also indicate that more needs to be done in implementing programs that counter stalking. Case management was the most frequently provided service, constituting an average of 2.80 hours of service per victim. Legal advocacy and personal advocacy were the second most frequently provided service. Visitation services had the highest mean service hours, with an average of 11.67 service hours per victim. The victims served were predominately adult White females. Nearly 70 percent of victims reported being a direct victim of domestic violence or sexual assault (69.5 percent). Emotional abuse (74 percent) was reported most often as the victim’s reason for seeking services. In accordance with the purpose areas of the Federal STOP Program, some of the goals of West Virginia’s STOP Program were to train law enforcement officers and prosecutors to identify and respond to violent crimes against women; support formal and informal statewide, multidisciplinary efforts; and train sexual assault forensic medical personnel examiners in the collection and preservation of evidence, analysis, prevention, and expert testimony related to sexual assault. 20 tables, 7 graphs and appendix