ICYMI: Shaheen Continues “Invest in NH Tour” with Visit to HAVEN During Sexual Assault Awareness Month

(Washington, DC) - In case you missed it, last week, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), visited HAVEN, one of the NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence’s (NHCADSV) 12 domestic and sexual violence crisis centers, during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Shaheen secured a $2 million award for HAVEN in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 government funding bill through the congressionally directed spending (CDS) process. These federal funds will be used to acquire property to house a new 13-unit emergency shelter facility and office space for their shelter, client services, training and outreach, education services and administrative staff. 

Shaheen’s visit to HAVEN was part of her “Invest in NH” tour, which highlights important projects she secured funding to support through the FY 2023 government funding bill that was signed into law.

Arielle Mitropoulos with WMUR has the full story here.

Senator Shaheen at HAVEN in Portsmouth on Friday to highlight critical federal dollars that will support urgently needed services at the center that assists survivors of domestic and sexual violence. 

Through her leadership position on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Shaheen champions efforts in the Senate to boost services and programs for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Shaheen secured the highest funding level ever for Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) programs in the FY 2023 government funding law, which she has done for six consecutive years. This marked a 22 percent increase from last year’s funding level that will support training officials, rape prevention programs, processing rape kits, domestic violence hotlines, women’s shelters and transitional housing support services. In addition, the FY 2023 funding law provides $10 million to jumpstart Senator Shaheen’s Survivors’ Bill of Rights incentive grant program, which encourages states to ensure that sexual assault survivors have the same rights guaranteed to survivors under federal law, including not being charged for a medical forensic exam and being informed of results of a sexual assault evidence collection kit. The Survivor’s Bill of Rights in the States Act was also signed into law as part of the FY 2023 national defense authorization legislation.

Shaheen’s visit to HAVEN was part of her “Invest in NH” tour, which highlights important projects she secured funding to support through the FY 2023 government funding bill that was signed into law. A senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Shaheen worked to include more than $111 million for New Hampshire in the government funding law.

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