U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, announced on Wednesday that Maine would receive $1,031,839 through the Department of Justice’s STOP Violence Against Women Program. STOP is an acronym for Services, Training, Officers, Prosecution.

The program’s aim is to implement and improve victim-centered law enforcement, prosecution, and court strategies to address violent crimes against women and to improve services for victims.

Pingree said the money will be split between nonprofit victim service programs, law enforcement, prosecution and courts.

“No woman should have to be a victim of violence. But, unfortunately, thousands of women in Maine every year are put in danger in cases of harassment, stalking, domestic violence, and sexual assault,” said Pingree in a release announcing the grant.

“It takes a terrible toll not only on these women, but on their families and communities. These funds are critical to programs working in Maine to prevent this violence from happening, punish abusers, and help those who have been victimized.”

A 2007 Maine Crime Victimization Report found that 28.5 percent of female respondents had been victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime and that 12 percent of respondents had been stalked within the prior year.

Annually, an estimated 30,000 Maine adults are victims of domestic violence, according to the Maine Attorney General’s Office, and more than half of the homicides each year in Maine are domestic related.


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