releases: https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=78FE7E28-2F88-40B1-970C-C8B45C35D27D
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=78FE7E28-2F88-40B1-970C-C8B45C35D27D | Heitkamp Marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month on Tour of Rape & Abuse Crisis Center | 2016-10-06 | 2016 | 2016-10 | Democrat | House | ND | Heidi Heitkamp | H001069 | www.heitkamp.senate.gov | legacy | FARGO, N.D. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today toured Fargo’s Rape and Abuse Crisis Center – which offers resources for domestic, sexual, and dating violence survivors – and thanked staff and board members for helping victims, educating the community, and preventing violence. Heitkamp’s tour of the center coincided with National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which is recognized every October to encourage conversation about rape and abuse, to reduce stigma, and to help victims escape and recover from violent situations. “As North Dakota’s attorney general in the 90s and now in the U.S. Senate, I’ve fought to combat domestic violence, bring perpetrators to justice, and help victims recover,” said Heitkamp. “During National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, it’s our duty to say thank you to folks at organizations like the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center who are on the ground making victims’ lives better every day, and raising awareness across our community. The counseling, education, and prevention the center provides make a difference for so many North Dakota women, children, and men who have been survived these crimes, and those who are still seeking recovery.” “As Senator Heitkamp has said, our center supports victims of domestic violence and sexual assault every month of the year – 24 hours a day, seven days a week” said Myla Korbel, program director at the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center. “I’d like to thank Senator Heitkamp for joining us to mark National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and for being a strong advocate since her days as attorney general. Last year alone, our staff of 40 helped more than 3,000 victims of sexual and domestic violence, including 500 children. We work every day through advocacy, outreach, counseling, and education to prevent domestic violence and help victims in our community.” The Rape and Abuse Crisis Center operates a 24-hour crisis hotline staffed by trained advocates. If you or someone you know has been affected by domestic violence, you can reach out to the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center at (701) 293-7273. Since serving as North Dakota’s Attorney General in the 1990s, Heitkamp has worked to prevent domestic abuse of women, men, and children through the original implementation of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). According to the Justice Department, annual incidences of domestic violence have fallen more than 60 percent since 1993 – results that are due in large part to VAWA. As a U.S. Senator, Heitkamp fought in 2013 to reauthorize and strengthen VAWA as one of the first bills she cosponsored upon entering the U.S. Senate. Last year, Heitkamp supported a year-end spending deal that included a significant increase in federal funding to support domestic violence victims. The $480 million in federal support from the Office on Violence Against Women was a $50 million increase from the previous year, to be used for victims’ services, legal, training and technical assistance, as well as research and analysis on violence against Native women. Since joining the U.S. Senate, Heitkamp has worked to combat domestic violence and stop those who seek to harm adults and children by: Successfully fighting for greater protections for tribal communities in Violence Against Women Act reauthorization. The first bill Heitkamp cosponsored in the U.S. Senate was the reauthorization of VAWA, which she then played a key role in pushing through Congress. Heitkamp worked to include a key provision in VAWA to address the continuing crisis of violence against women in tribal communities. The provision strengthens the existing programs and provides tribal governments the force they need to prosecute non-Indian perpetrators who commit these crimes on tribal land. Securing greater legal protections and services for domestic and sexual violence victims. In November 2015, Heitkamp’s bipartisan Pro bono Work to Empower and Represent or POWER Act (POWER Act) to help combat domestic abuse and sexual violence by promoting pro-bono legal services unanimously passed in the U.S. Senate. The bill was introduced in the House last month. Raising awareness of domestic violence resources in North Dakota. In October 2014, Heitkamp met with community leaders, advocates, and victims services in Fargo and Minot to highlight the need to address domestic violence as a public health crisis. Heitkamp also toured the Community Violence Intervention Center (CVIC) in Grand Forks in January of 2015 and in Minot in March of 2015 to see programs supporting victims and combatting domestic violence in the region. Addressing emerging challenges in North Dakota to better combat domestic violence. In 2014, Heitkamp convened a task force of experts, law enforcement and leaders across the state in launching her Strong & Safe Communities Initiative to address emerging challenges – including a rise in domestic violence – in the wake of the oil and gas boom. In October 2015, Heitkamp hosted her Strong & Safe Communities Summit with about 150 community leaders to discuss solutions on domestic violence and a host of other issues facing the state. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |