National Abuse Resources

ASISTA
ASISTA is a collaboration between four nationally-recognized legal experts who work to provide comprehensive and cutting-edge technical assistance on the intersection between immigration and domestic violence law. Our purpose is to centralize, enhance and expand immigration assistance to frontline advocates and attorneys who provide legal assistance to immigrant victims.

FaithTrust Institute
FaithTrust Institute offers a wide range of services and resources, including training, consultation and educational materials, to provide communities and advocates with the tools and knowledge they need to address the religious and cultural issues related to abuse. An international, multifaith organization working with many communities, including Asian and Pacific Islander, Buddhist, Jewish, Latino/a, Muslim, Black, Anglo, Indigenous, Protestant and Roman Catholic.

Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community
The Institute's Mission is to provide an interdisciplinary vehicle and forum by which scholars, practitioners, and observers of family violence in the African American community will have the continual opportunity to articulate their perspectives on family violence through research findings, the examination of service delivery and intervention mechanisms, and the identification of appropriate and effective responses to prevent/reduce family violence in the African American community.

ABA Commission on Domestic Violence
The mission of the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence is to mobilize the legal profession to provide access to justice and safety for victims of domestic violence.

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National Domestic Violence Hotline
Until the violence stops, the hotline will continue to answer. One Call at a Time. Help is available to callers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Hotline advocates are available for victims and anyone calling on their behalf to provide crisis intervention, safety planning, information and referrals to agencies in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Assistance is available in English and Spanish with access to more than 140 languages through interpreter services. If you or someone you know is frightened about something in your relationship, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or TTY 1-800-787-3224.

National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence
Helps professionals who work with victims and perpetrators; law enforcement; criminal justice professionals such as prosecutors, judges and probation officers; health care professionals including emergency response teams, nurses and doctors; domestic violence and sexual assault advocates and service providers; and counselors and social workers. In addition to these professionals, NCDSV also works with local, state and federal agencies; state and national organizations; educators, researchers, faith community leaders, media, community leaders, elected officials, policymakers, and all branches of the military.

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
The NCJFCJ provides cutting-edge training, wide-ranging technical assistance, and research to help the nation's courts, judges and staff in their important work.

Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)
The Violence Against Women Office, now the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) handles legal and policy issues regarding violence against women, coordinated Departmental efforts, provides national and international leadership, receives international visitors interested in learning about the federal government's role in addressing violence against women, and responds to requests for information regarding violence against women. The Office works closely with components of the Office of Justice Programs, the Office of Legal Policy, the Office of Legislative Affairs, the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, the Immigration and Naturalization Office, the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, U.S. Attorneys' Offices, and state, tribal and local jurisdictions to implement the mandates of the Violence Against Women Act and subsequent legislation.

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The Greenbook Initiative
A major new initiative, popularly known as the "Greenbook," is helping child welfare and domestic violence agencies and family courts work together more effectively to help families experiencing violence. Since the "Greenbook" was released in 1999, dozens of sites around the country have used it to improve their policies and practices. The "Greenbook" project is helping communities from coast to coast improve coordination among courts and social service agencies to better serve families in need.

Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse
The mission of the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA) is to support research, education, and access to violence related resources.

National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL)
NCALL's mission is to eliminate abuse in later life by challenging beliefs, policies, practices and systems that allow abuse to occur and continue and to improve safety, services and support to victims through advocacy and education.

The Family Violence Prevention Fund
FVPF continues to break new ground by reaching new audiences including men and youth, promoting leadership within communities to ensure that violence prevention efforts become self-sustaining, and transforming the way health care providers, police, judges, employers and others address violence.

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Violence Against Women Online Resources (VAWOR)
Violence Against Women Online Resources provides materials on domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking for criminal justice professionals, sexual assault and domestic violence victim advocates, and other multi-disciplinary professionals and community partners who respond to these crimes.

National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (VAWnet)
VAWnet is an easily accessible and comprehensive collection of full-text, searchable electronic resources on domestic violence, sexual violence and related issues.

Praxis International
Praxis International, Inc. is a nonprofit research and training organization that works toward the elimination of violence in the lives of women and children. We work with local, statewide, and national reform initiatives to bridge the gap between what people need and what institutions provide. Since 1996, we have worked with advocacy organizations, intervention agencies, and inter-agency collaborations to create a clear and cooperative agenda for social change in their communities.

Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV)
PCADV offers consultation and technical expertise to state domestic violence coalitions, private and government agencies, and state and federal policy-makers; provides information and resource materials to the media and general public; provides extensive training to law enforcement and criminal justice personnel, health care providers, religious leaders, drug and alcohol counselors, batterer intervention service providers, and other professionals who seek justice and safety for battered women.

Shelter Tour
Join us as we go from room to room. Hear the voices of women who have sought shelter with Safe Horizon, see pictures of the inside of a shelter, and find answers to the questions that battered women entering a shelter might ask.

AARDVARC
AARDVARC is An Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence Aid and Resource Collection. This site is for victims of violence, their families and friends, and the agencies and programs which serve them, both public and private. Issues addressed here currently include: domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault.

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Iowa Abuse Resources

Iowa Legal Aid
Iowa Legal Aid, along with attorneys across the state who take part in Volunteer Lawyer Projects, will help nearly 50,000 Iowans this year. More than a third of these clients will be victims of domestic abuse. Half are children. All will face issues involving basic issues of health, safety and survival.

Iowa Organization for Victim Assistance
The Iowa Organization for Victim Assistance (IOVA) is a support organization for victims, survivors, witnesses, advocates and professionals. IOVA's Mission is to improve Iowa's responses to crime and victimization in every community.

Iowa General Assembly
The Iowa legislature's online information source.

Iowa Attorney General

Attorney General's Office Crime Victim Assistance Division
The mission of the Crime Victim Assistance Division and the Crime Victim Assistance Board is to advocate for the rights and the needs of crime victims within the State of Iowa. The division administers programs that directly benefit victims of crime, including those that assist victims with the financial burden resulting from injuries of crime, that assist local crime victim service programs, and that assist the criminal justice system in holding offenders responsible for the effects of their crimes.

Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline
Free. Confidential. 24-hour support, information and referral. 1.800.284.7821

Iowa Domestic Violence Hotline
When calling from anywhere in Iowa, the hotline puts domestic abuse survivors or others affected by domestic violence in immediate contact with a trained advocate who can: provide crisis counseling; provide information and education about domestic abuse issues; and refer callers to the domestic violence project in their area of the state. 1-800-942-0333

Iowa Judicial Branch Domestic Abuse page
This site contains information about domestic violence and services for victims of domestic violence. It also contains information for professionals seeking information so Full Faith and Credit can be afforded to Iowa protective orders.

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Links to Iowa's Local Domestic Abuse Projects

Some domestic abuse projects in Iowa do not have their own websites. Those that do are listed below:

• Ames: ACCESS
• Cedar Rapids: Waypoint
• Des Moines: Children and Families of Iowa
• Fort Dodge: Domestic/Sexual Abuse Outreach Center
• Iowa City: Domestic Violence Intervention Program
• LUNA: Latinas Unidas por un Nuevo Amanecer
• Mason City: Crisis Intervention Services
• Oskaloosa: Crisis Intervention Services
• Sioux Center: Family Crisis Centers
• Sioux City: Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence
• Waverly: Cedar Valley Friends of the Family
/ • Statewide: Deaf Women of Iowa Against Abuse

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National Abuse Resources

Links to Iowa's Local Domestic Abuse Projects

Other Recommended Links