Shaheen Visits HAVEN During Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Accepts Award for Decades of Advocacy on Behalf of Survivors

***Shaheen secured $2 million in Congressionally Directed Spending for HAVEN in the Fiscal Year 2023 government funding legislation*** 

(Portsmouth, NH) – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee and Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), toured the future site of a project led by HAVEN and Portsmouth Housing that will relocate HAVEN’s support services for survivors of domestic and sexual violence to a new facility and add affordable and transitional housing units. Shaheen also accepted the 2023 National Sexual Violence Resource Center's Visionary Voice Award from the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (NHCADSV) for her decades of work on behalf of survivors. HAVEN is one of NHCADSV’s twelve domestic and sexual violence crisis centers, and Shaheen secured $2 million in Congressionally Directed Spending for the project in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 government funding legislation to help HAVEN with this relocation. Photos from today’s event can be found here. 

“It’s critical that local organizations like HAVEN have what they need to support survivors of domestic and sexual violence with services like transitional housing,” said Senator Shaheen. “I was proud to have secured federal funding to support HAVEN’s efforts and was honored to receive an award from NHCADSV. I will always advocate to ensure survivors have the resources they need to heal and the organizations on the ground in our communities can continue supporting them.”  

“This collaborative partnership is beyond exciting, and we are grateful to Senator Shaheen and the Episcopal diocese for the tremendous opportunity to address some of the pressing needs facing our community. CDS funds will play a critical role to help HAVEN expand our client services, counseling, education and outreach, and provide program and office space in a centralized location. We look forward to partnering with Portsmouth Housing Authority, Little Blessings Childcare Center and the diocese as the project develops and comes to fruition,” said Kathy Beebe, Executive Director of HAVEN. 

“Senator Shaheen has been a champion for survivors of sexual and domestic violence for decades. Her years of unwavering advocacy and leadership have transformed victim services, and she has fought tirelessly to ensure that programs and resources are available to every survivor. We are honored to have nominated her for the Visionary Voice Award in recognition of her deep commitment to improving the lives of survivors here in the Granite State and beyond,” said Amanda Grady Sexton, Director of Public Affairs for NHCADSV. 

Through her role as Chair of the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, Shaheen secured a significant increase in funding in the FY 2024 government funding bill for the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) to prevent violence against women and better support survivors. Specifically, the bill provides OVW $713 million for Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) grant programs—the highest funding level ever. 

Senator Shaheen is a fierce advocate for women and girls in the United States and around the globe. Shaheen has prioritized issues to empower women and pursue gender equality, such as opposing efforts to roll back women’s reproductive rights, fighting for the rights of sexual assault survivors, advocating on behalf of family planning and women’s global health, spearheading efforts to end violence against women and securing women leadership roles in conflict resolution and peace negotiations.  

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