Domestic and Sexual Violence in Virginia - Virginia Attorney General

Attorney General’sMessageThe issues of domestic violence and sexual assault continue to threaten our families,our schools, our workplaces, and our communities across the Commonwealthof Virginia. In response to this threat, Virginia agencies, organizations, localgovernments, and communities have worked diligently to end violence againstwomen and children through the development of initiatives directly targeted atpreventing and responding to domestic and sexual violence. These initiativesinclude state and local collaborative efforts with healthcare and victim servicesproviders; legislative efforts to promote victim protection and offender accountability;training and technical assistance efforts for law enforcement, prosecutors,and courts; and public awareness campaigns to bring attention to domestic andsexual violence issues.Combating domestic and sexual violence is truly a collaborative effort. We mustall work together to bring hope and provide assistance to victims of thesecriminal acts. In this spirit, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the Departmentof Criminal Justice Services, the Department of Health, the Departmentof Housing and Community Development, the Department of Social Services,the Department of State Police, the Family and Children’s Trust Fund of Virginia,the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, theVirginia Center on Aging, the Virginia Poverty Law Center, and the VirginiaSexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance for their continued collaborationand willingness to work closely with the Office of the Attorney Generalto address domestic and sexual violence issues in Virginia. These agencies andorganizations have contributed valuable information for this Annual Report.I am honored to share with you the outstanding accomplishments over the pastyear and some stakeholder recommendations for the future as we continue tocombat domestic and sexual violence and provide better protection for victims.Together, we can work to make this a safer and stronger Virginia.Bob McDonnellThrough the generous support of the Verizon Wireless HopeLine Program, a limited number of copies of the Annual Report have been printed for distribution.Hard copies of the Report may be requested by contacting the Statewide Facilitator for Victims of Domestic Violence, Office of the Attorney General, at(804) 786-2071. Electronic copies of the Report can be downloaded from the Office of the Attorney General’s website at www.vaag.com.i