OVW joins the nation in recognizing April as Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month (SAAM) and stands with survivors everywhere in calling for justice.

Sexual assault is far too prevalent in our communities.  According to the latest research from the CDC, over one million women are raped every year, and one in five women have been raped at some point in their lifetimes.  Rape is not just a women’s issue; 1 in 71 men have been raped, and 28% of them were first raped when they were 10 years old or younger.  In his Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month Proclamation President Obama called on all Americans “to recommit to changing that tragic reality by stopping sexual assault before it starts and ensuring victims get the support they need.”

Sexual assault is not just limited to rape – it includes any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without explicit consent.  When sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, and non-contact unwanted sexual experiences are included in the definition, an astonishing 45% of women and 22% of men have been sexually assaulted.  Rape and sexual assault take a profound toll on victims, as well as their friends and family.  When the physical and mental health of so many women and men is impacted by sexual violence, our entire nation suffers.

OVW recognizes that to reduce sexual violence, we must help communities improve investigation, prosecution, and victim services.  We must also strive to prevent sexual assault before it happens and provide resources to underserved communities.  OVW grantees and technical assistance providers are leading the way on these goals through innovative new tools and trainings.  This month there are several opportunities to participate in SAAM-related trainings and events:

•  The 2013 International Conference on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and Stalking will be held April 3-5 in Baltimore, MD.  This multidisciplinary conference promotes innovative techniques, unique approaches, and promising practices in responding to crimes of violence against women.  Sponsored by End Violence Against Women International (EVAW), this conference has been approved for many OVW grantees to attend using their OVW training funds.
•  Join Just Detention International on April 3^rd for a webinar on the crisis of sexual abuse in youth detention.  One in Eight: The Reality of Sexual Abuse in Youth Detention is the first in a three-part series.  Webinar participants will learn why so many youth detainees are sexually abused, the impact of this trauma on survivors and communities at large, and the Prison Rape Elimination Act standards for youth facilities.
• On April 9^th, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) will also host a webinar for rural service providers, law enforcement, prosecution, and OVW Rural Program grantees to explore the unique roles of victim service professionals in responding to child sexual abuse.
• The International Association of Forensic Nurses’ (IAFN) SAFEta Project provides training and information about sexual assault medical forensic exams.  IAFN is launching a free, 6-week online course on sustaining a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program.  While their first session is already full, the course will be offered again in August/September and registration will open in June.
• People with disabilities experience violent victimization, including sexual assault, at high rates but face barriers to accessing services.  IAFN is hosting a Caring for Survivors with Physical and Developmental Disabilities webinar on April 11^th.  Webinar participants will learn strategies to create an accessible and welcoming environment for survivors with disabilities.
• The National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) is conducting two webinars in April through their DNA Resource Center.  On April 9^th, Investigating and Prosecuting Non-Stranger and Stranger Cold Case Sexual Assaults will cover approaches and challenges to pursuing cold case sexual assaults, including investigation techniques, DNA evidence in non-stranger cases, and transforming tough issues into strengths at trial.  On April 23^rd, NCVC presents Sexual Assault Cold Case Survivors and the Neurobiology of Trauma.  Dr. Rebecca Campbell will explain how the brain responds to trauma and how trauma affects victim participation in the criminal justice system.
• Check out NCVC’s new Sexual Assault Kit Backlogs: Making Victims Part of the Solution webpage for policies and protocols regarding victim notification in backlog cases, laws related to victims’ rights that may apply in backlog cases, and other resources to help communities create a victim-centered response when handling untested sexual assault kits.

DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, and other federal agencies are also funding exciting initiatives in April.  I applaud these efforts and the work of countless justice system and victim service personnel.

Anyone can participate in SAAM, no matter your profession or location.  I encourage you to engage in national and local SAAM activities – whether sitting in front of your computer or out in your neighborhood.  The 2013 National SAAM Campaign is a great place to start, with information for parents, educators, advocates, and community members.  This year’s theme is healthy sexuality and its connection to child sexual abuse prevention.

Consider one of the following activities:

1)      Request a SAAM proclamation from your state or local government, such as this example from Alaska.

2)      Spread the word.  Campaign logos, posters and images for Facebook and Twitter are available for download from the NSVRC.

3)      Take a stand to end harassment during International Anti-street Harassment Week, April 7-13.

4)      Join the NSVRC for Twitter chats on Tuesdays in April.  #TweetAboutIt

5)      Support survivors and raise awareness about sexual assault by wearing denim on Denim Day, Wednesday, April 24.

6)      Don’t stand by, stand up: learn how bystanders can intervene to prevent sexual assault.

7)      One in five women in college have been raped.  By the time they are seniors, the number will grow to one in four.  Learn more about preventing sexual assault on university campuses.

8)      Attend the National Crime Victims’ Service Awards Ceremony sponsored by the DOJ Office for Victims of Crime.

9)      Write an op-ed or letter to the editor for publication in your local newspaper.

10)   Participate in local events sponsored by rape crisis centers, state sexual assault coalitions, universities, and others.  Events such as Take Back the Night, the Clothesline Project, candlelight vigils, and survivor speak-outs are not just held in April – look for opportunities to support your local community year-round.

The staff at OVW and I are saddened by every new report of rape – and the victim-blaming that often accompanies those reports – but we know we can change the story.  The Violence Against Women Act was signed into law last month with significant new sexual assault provisions.  With leadership from the White House, our colleagues across the federal government are actively addressing sexual assault through their programming.  And during SAAM, we have an opportunity to take action, celebrate prevention efforts, honor survivors, and build momentum.  We will still have too many causes for grief, too many lives destroyed, but I know that by working together we can reduce sexual assault in every part of this country.

Since the signing of both his FOIA and Transparency and Open Government memoranda on his first full day in office, President Obama has committed to “creating an unprecedented level of openness in government.”  Attorney General Eric Holder, in his FOIA Guidelines issued in March 2009, built on these directives, instructing agencies on how to apply the presumption of openness called for by the President and emphasizing the need for agencies to release records proactively and promptly and to utilize technology in FOIA administration.

Seeking to do still more, in September 201o, at a speech to the United Nations, the President challenged countries around the world to join the United States in adopting “specific commitments to strengthen the foundations of freedom.”  A year later, the President joined seven global leaders, as well as a group of international civil society organizations, to launch the Open Government Partnership. This was followed by release of the U.S.  National Action Plan (PDF), which highlighted “a set of twenty-six concrete commitments that help increase public integrity, promote public participation, manage public resources more effectively, and improve public services.”

Two of the commitments in the National Action Plan focused on continued improvements in the administration of the FOIA by:

• Professionalizing FOIA administration through creation of a new civil service personnel category for officials who specialize in FOIA and other government information programs, and
• Expanding use of technology to achieve greater efficiencies in FOIA administration, including utilization of technology to assist in searching for and processing records, as well as to ensure that information posted by agencies online is searchable and readily usable by the public.

Last week, the White House released an assessment on the implementation of this National Action Plan (PDF).  Included within the assessment was a discussion of the work done to fulfill the two commitments related to FOIA administration.  The assessment highlights that agencies have made improvements to FOIA administration, by, among other things, “significantly improve[ing] the average processing times for requests” and reducing the backlog of pending requests by 46% since 2008.  The assessment also evaluates the two key FOIA initiatives that were part of the National Action Plan.

As to creation of a distinct job series for FOIA professionals, as previously described by the Office of Information Policy (OIP), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced the creation of the Government Information Series during Sunshine Week 2012.  The new job series recognizes the professional nature of the work of FOIA and Privacy Act professionals who are “responsible for promoting accountability and transparency while safeguarding certain types of vital government information.”  The assessment notes that:

“[t]he Administration is proud that this commitment has been met, but also recognizes that the task of professionalizing FOIA is not over.  The U.S. Government will continue to work to ensure that human resources professionals across the government understand this new job series and give this job series the proper elevation that it deserves.”

As to expanded use of technology, the assessment declares that “[t]echnology has the potential to transform FOIA administration,” and describes the “significant steps” taken by agencies to increase their use of technology in the administration of FOIA.   The assessment notes that over “one hundred offices across the U.S. Government are now employing web portals that allow the public to electronically submit a FOIA request.”  The assessment recognizes that “[o]ne of the most common difficulties in processing FOIA requests is the large amount of time spent by FOIA personnel searching for, de-duplicating, and conducting initial responsiveness reviews on records.”  To meet that challenge the assessment describes that several agencies “have replaced time-intensive manual processes with software applications that automatically” do many of these tasks.  The assessment also highlights OIP’s recently completed pilot program on leveraging digital tools in the processing of FOIA requests, as well as OIP’s FOIA Technology Working Group, which serves as a forum for agencies to exchange ideas on uses of technology, a forum that is particularly important given that, as the assessment recognizes, “FOIA tools are not one-size-fits-all.”

The Justice Department’s government-wide FOIA resource, FOIA.gov, had a number of enhancements incorporated into the site since its launch during Sunshine Week 2011, which were noted in the assessment.  The addition of quarterly FOIA metrics (as well as the web based tool used to collect these statistics) and the site’s “Find” feature are just two of the enhancements made to the flagship initiative of the Justice Department’s Open Government Plan (version 1.0) (PDF).

Noting that progress continues to be made in the use of technology both to improve FOIA administration and to enhance the availability of government information online, the assessment describes some of the  upcoming efforts by OIP in this area.  For example,  the assessment highlights OIP’s issuance of further guidance on the use of metadata when posting records to “allow for the creation of a virtual government-wide FOIA Library” and OIP’s development of “an online training course about the FOIA to be available to all federal employees in keeping with the Attorney General’s mandate that FOIA is everyone’s responsibility.”

The assessment acknowledges that the processing of FOIA requests is a “fundamentally labor intensive task, and working to improve timeliness is especially difficult at a time when initial requests have been steadily increasing and budgets have been decreasing.”  By focusing on technology and “providing agencies and FOIA professionals with new tools and expanding access to training online,” the assessment concludes that “the Administration is working hard to fulfill its commitment to improve transparency through further use of technology.”

These are just a few of the important initiatives contained within the assessment and the National Action Plan itself.  As noted by the Justice Department after the United States entry into the Open Government Partnership:

“An open and good government is much more than releasing information.  It is about harnessing the skill and talents of the American people, establishing greater collaboration among Federal agencies, and ensuring that the taxpayer’s money is wisely spent.”

The Department is fully committed to the principles that the President announced on his first day in office.  Today and in the days ahead, both OIP and the Justice Department will continue their efforts to improve the administration of the FOIA across the government.  While there is still work to be done, the Department and the Administration remain “committed to continuing this work.”

For more information on the Department’s Open Government efforts, please visit the Open Government Page.  For the latest developments in FOIA, continue to follow FOIA Post, and for the latest news from the Justice Department, please visit The Justice Blog.

In commemoration of Women’s History Month, the Justice Department held a Women’s History Month Observance Program to recognize the many achievements that women have made to advance the Justice Department’s mission and to improve our of nation’s cultural, economic, academic, and military institutions.

As Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole said during the program:

“At the Justice Department, the contributions of women are felt on all levels, and across each component …[and they are]providing essential leadership and vision at every level and in every corner of the world where we carry out our most critical responsibilities.”

This year’s national theme for the month is “Women Inspiring Innovation through Imagination,” which specifically addresses the role women play in advancing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The Department of Justice has nearly 3,000 talented women who hold positions as economists, Information Technology Specialists, Engineers, Forensic Scientists and Mathematicians.

Despite the strides women have made at the department – where they make up 41 percent of the department’s workforce, a vast gender disparity in the national workforce remains all too real. Today more women attend college than ever before. More women graduate from college with advance degrees, as compared to their male counterparts. And yet, women in America continue to earn less than their male counterparts and hold significantly fewer leadership positions in the workplace.

Deputy Attorney General Cole said:

“Inside our walls, in addition to making sure women have a seat at the table here at DOJ, we have welcomed speakers from both inside and outside the department to continue to discuss the importance of women in leadership and across the ranks of all of our occupations. Whether women are overseeing a Fortune 500 company, a federal agency, or the factory floor, the perspectives women bring to all the important work we do in this country only serves to make the ultimate product better and, as a result, make us all better off.”

In addition to ensuring that all women have equal opportunity to excel, lead, and thrive, promoting women’s safety remains one of the Justice Department’s top priorities.

Through the Office of Violence Against Women–which provides financial and technical aid to help communities develop programs, policies and practices aimed at ending domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking–and thanks to the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the department stands more poised than ever before to protect women and girls from violence, abuse and exploitation.

Deputy Attorney General Cole noted:

“We are particularly pleased that the recent reauthorization of VAWA includes new provisions to address violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals; immigrants and Native Americans. The department worked hard to ensure that this landmark legislation would protect all victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.”

In addition to protecting women in their communities, the department works to protect women in the workplace. Alongside the Equal Opportunity Commission at the Department of Labor which has oversight of private employers, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation section ensures that women in the federal workforce are protected from discrimination on the basis of their gender. Discrimination on the basis of gender includes denying equal employment opportunity to any person because of gender, treating a woman unfavorably because she is pregnant, or treating a person unfavorably because he or she does not conform with gender-based stereotypes.

Women’s History Month is a time for us to reflect, not just on the many amazing contributions women have made here at the department and throughout the nation, but on the many challenges women still face. It is a time for us to recommit to equality and to justice for women.

For more information about the Office of Violence Against Women, visit ovw.justice.gov. To learn more about the Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section, visit http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/emp/

The following post appears courtesy of the National Institute of Justice.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) — the research, development and evaluation agency of the Justice Department — is bringing together social scientists and defense practitioners to find ways to crack the barriers to strong indigent defense systems.

Because of the limited resources and gaps in infrastructure of many indigent defense systems, defense counsel often lag behind other justice system actors in using data and research to assess their own effectiveness, develop best practices and influence policy. To that end, NIJ research seeks to understand the persistent barriers to indigent defense and offer recommendations that may help solve those issues.

This year, NIJ is launching three studies focused on indigent defense from its FY 2012 Social Science Research on Indigent Defense solicitation.

The National Center for State Courts will evaluate the impact of “holistic defense” approaches that address a defendant’s underlying social needs. Using multiple methods, the study will explore how the principles of holistic defense are interpreted and implemented, the financial and organizational requisites for implementing a holistic defense program, and what benefits holistic defense provides to defendants, taxpayers and society.

• Georgetown University will examine the factors that lead juveniles to waive their right to counsel. Through the study of 400 pairs of parents and youth of varying ages, the researchers will assess intellectual functioning, emotional symptoms, psychosocial maturity, and knowledge and beliefs about attorneys and the adjudication process.
• The Vera Institute of Justice will study the challenges facing attorneys who represent indigent defendants with mental health disorders. Through a study of 250 pairs of attorneys and their clients, this research will identify resource constraints, ethical dilemmas, practical challenges and best practices that affect the ability of indigent defense attorneys to provide effective counsel that meets the needs of this group of defendants.

These studies will help clarify the barriers that indigent criminal defendants face in securing effective legal representation, as well as help identify ways to remove those hurdles. However, more needs to be done.

In addition to the grants from the 2012 Social Science Research on Indigent Defense Solicitation, in fiscal year 2013, NIJ has released solicitations for research proposals and fellowship program applications. Indigent defense researchers are encouraged to submit applications for funding.

• Building and Enhancing Criminal Justice Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships — This solicitation seeks research that can provide practical solutions to obstacles that criminal justice practitioners face.
• Graduate Research Fellowship Program — This fellowship program is for graduate students and allows the fellow to propose research related to indigent defense.
• Research and Evaluation on Justice Systems: Investigator-Initiated — This solicitation emphasizes indigent defense as an identified research area.
• Social Science Research on Forensic Science — This solicitation seeks research that examines the impact of forensic advances on the criminal justice system and looks at changes in policies to adapt to the greater use of forensic evidence.
• W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship for Research on Race, Gender, Culture and Crime — This fellowship program is geared towards those with a terminal degree and allows the fellow to propose research related to indigent defense.

See each of the individual solicitations for unique eligibility criteria and procedures for applying. We strongly encourage defense practitioners to partner with social scientists and submit applications for these opportunities.

For more information visit NIJ.gov

Attorney General Eric Holder, Supreme Court Justice Elana Kagan and Former Vice President Walter Mondale discuss the legacy of the Gideon v. Wainright case during a panel discussion at The Department of Justice.

Fifty years ago, this week, the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Gideon v. Wainwright - a decisioin that would forever change the criminal justice system of the United States.

In June of 1961, Clarence Earl Gideon  was charged with breaking and entering with the intention of petty theft at the Bay Harbor Pool Room in Panama City, Florida.  Unable to afford representation, Gideon petitioned the State of Florida for appointed counsel, but his request was denied.  He was forced to provide his own defense and Gideon was found guilty. He appealed to the Florida Supreme Court.  Denied, but undeterred, he wrote – in pencil and on prison stationary – another petition, this time to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In June of 1962, the Supreme Court granted Gideon’s petition.  The following year on March, 18 1963, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Gideon’s favor. The Supreme Court’s decision affirmed that every  defendant charged with a serious crime has the constitutional right to counsel, re gardless of his or her financial resources. The case marked a momentous step in the United States’ pursuit of equality in the justice system. 

The Department of Justice was pleased to host a commemorative event for the 50^th Anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright. Attorney General Eric Holder spoke passionately about the legacy of Gideon. He was then joined by former Vice President Walter Mondale and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan for a panel discussion on the topic.

Attorney General Eric Holder paid homage to the landmark decision and recogned its continued impact, as he noted the event served as a reminder of the work that remains unfinished:

“…Despite half a century of progress – even today, in 2013, far too many Americans struggle to gain access to the legal assistance they need.  And far too many children and adults routinely enter our juvenile and criminal justice systems with little understanding of the rights to which they’re entitled, the charges against them, or the potential sentences they may face.”

The Justice Department is taking action to reduce these instances of inaccessible—or inadequate—legal representation for the citizens most in need.  In fact, Attorney General Holder announced on at the event that the department will offer $1.8 million to the cause of strengthening America’s public defense system.  This comes in addition to the ongoing efforts of the Access to Justice Initiative, established by Attorney General Holder in 2010 to assure that quality legal representation is accessible to even the most vulnerable citizens, and other government and independent organizations with which the Justice Department is coordinating.

Both Attorney General Holder and Acting Senior Counselor for the Access to Justice Initiative Deborah Leff have cautioned on the unfortunate consequences that sequestration, which cut more than $1.6 billion from the Justice Department’s budget, will have on the work to advance Gideon’s cause. Nevertheless, in her speech to the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy Convening, Acting Senior Counselor Leff said:

“…Despite the strains that we are going through and the cutbacks we are making, the Department of Justice is continuing its support for indigent-defense projects, because fulfilling Gideon’s legacy and ensuring the constitutional right to counsel are central to our mission.”

The anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright should inspire all American citizens to reflect upon the significance of a justice system that grants each defendant the right to quality counsel, regardless of their financial circumstances. 

In closing remarks, Attorney General Holder said:

 “In the end, this may be the single most important legacy of Gideon:  that it serves as a reminder of the obligation entrusted to every legal professional – not merely to serve clients or win cases, but to do justice.  It stands as a testament to the fact that the structures and mechanisms of our legal system, far from being etched in stone, remain works in progress.  And it’s a powerful example of how – in this great country – even the humblest hands can help to bend the arc of history just a little further toward justice.”

For more information about the department’s efforts to ensure effective legal assistance for all persons charged with crimes visit justice.gov/atj/gideon.

The following post appears courtesy of Melanie Ann Pustay, Director of the Office of Information Policy at the Department of Justice and Lisa Ellman, Chief Counselor for the Open Government Partnership and Senior Advisor to the Chief Technology Officer at the White House. It originally appeared on The White House blog.

As President Barack Obama has stated, “Openness will strengthen our democracy, and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.” This week, we celebrate Sunshine Week — an appropriate time to discuss the importance of open government and freedom of information, and to take stock of how far we have come, and think about what more can be done.   

In the spirit of Sunshine Week, the White House will highlight one initiative a day which demonstrates the Obama Administration’s continued commitment to open and accessible government. Today, we will focus on progress made improving the administration of the FOIA. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” In our democracy, FOIA, which encourages accountability through transparency, is the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open government. 

As President Obama declared in his landmark Memorandum on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) issued on his first full day in Office:  “A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency.”  The FOIA – which provides the public with a statutory right to request and receive information from their government – is a key way in which government transparency is realized. 

Over the past four years agencies have been working hard to improve their administration of the FOIA under guidance issued by Attorney General Holder. That guidance directed agencies to apply a presumption of openness in responding to requests and to make it a priority to respond promptly. Both the President and Attorney General stressed that it is also vital for agencies to make information available proactively, without the need to make a request, so that what is “known and done by their Government” is readily available to all. These directives are taking hold across the agencies and real improvements are being made. 

In Fiscal Year 2012, the government as a whole:

• Processed more FOIA requests:  Agencies processed 665,924 total requests. This is a 5.5 percent increase over the total number of requests processed last fiscal year. 
• Decreased the FOIA request backlog: The efforts of agencies to increase the numbers of requests processed has paid off as the government was able to reduce its backlog of pending requests by 14 percent from last year.  The current backlog marks a 45 percent reduction from the backlog that existed four years ago in 2008. 
• Maintained a release rate above 92 percent for the fourth straight year: Of the 464,985 requests processed by agencies for disclosure, the government released records either in full or in part in response to 93.4 percent of these requests.  For half of those requests all the information was released, with nothing withheld.  This marks the fourth year in a row where the number of responses to FOIA requests providing a release of information either in full or in part exceeded 92 percent of the requests processed for disclosure. 
• Improved average processing times:  Agencies improved the average processing times for all categories of requests. 
• Disclosed more information proactively:  Agencies met public demand for information by posting a wide range of material on their websites, allowing the public to easily find information of interest without the need to make a FOIA request. 

All of the detailed data on agency FOIA compliance from Fiscal Year 2012 is compiled and displayed graphically on the Department of Justice’s government FOIA website FOIA.gov, providing a clear picture of government FOIA administration and progress during the last fiscal year.

These are more than just statistics. They represent the efforts of agencies across the government to answer the call to improve transparency. They demonstrate that agencies are responding to requests more quickly and releasing more information when they do. Agencies are reducing backlogs of pending requests and helping eliminate the need to even make requests by proactively providing information online.  The public is the beneficiary of this progress. While there is more work to be done, this past year demonstrates that agencies are answering the President’s and Attorney General’s call for greater transparency.

To learn more about the Office of Information Policy visit The FOIA Post - the blog of OIP. For more information about the Freedom of Information Act, visit FOIA.gov.