Sunday, May 25, 2025
5/25/2025
Rape Prevention and Education: Enhancing Capacity for Sexual Violence Prevention among Tribal Sexual Assault Coalitions - PROJECT ABSTRACT First Nations Women’s Alliance (FNWA) is the federally designated Dual Domestic Violence (DV) and Sexual Assault (SA) Tribal Coalition led by Indigenous Peoples for Indigenous People within the ancestral lands of what is now North Dakota. Since becoming a 501©3 organization in 2008, FNWA has provided domestic and sexual violence prevention services for the six tribal nations and communities in ND including Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Spirit Lake Nation, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and Trenton Indian Service Area. FNWA also serves and supports disproportionately disadvantaged individuals and communities throughout North Dakota. FNWA’s mission is to “Strengthen our Tribal communities by creating a forum for leaders to come together to address the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault. FNWA is committed to ending all forms of violence by providing culturally relevant services and resources.” With respect to the Tribal nations in ND, the term “Indigenous” will primarily be used throughout this proposal in place of “American Indians”. On a national level, reliable, relevant and existing data reflecting sexual violence among Indigenous Peoples is often outdated, inaccessible, or a misrepresentation of cultural and historical context of each tribal nation. Without access to reliable and true data, the root causes of Sexual Violence (SV) are hard to understand and provide evidence needed for data driven decision making leading to action. Through observation, lived experiences, and services provided, FNWA has observed that the Indigenous population in ND face socioeconomical risk factors that increase the risk for SV victimization. This is a result of settler colonialism, historical oppression, lack of policy protections, lack of support from state and federal governments, lack of investigation and prosecution, unreliable law enforcement, racially oppressive criminal justice systems, and the social norm of patriarchy in ND. FNWA aims to improve access to reliable data sources and identify ways to strengthen data collection efforts through Indigenous research methodologies and transformative worldviews. FNWA is seeking funding through the FY2024 CDC’s Rape Prevention and Education: Enhancing Capacity for Sexual Violence Prevention among Tribal Sexual Assault Coalitions to Promote Social Norms That Protect Against Violence among the Indigenous Peoples of North Dakota. FNWA has a significant amount of experience in the sexual violence prevention field, where they are more than “Bystanders” in many spaces where Being a Good Relative (BAGR) was needed. This initiative is a primary prevention approach from FNWA’s “Medicine In Action: A Culturally Responsive Prevention Strategy” that applies cultural teachings and traditional knowledge as protective factors for primary prevention. In 2023, FNWA was one of two Tribal Coalitions funded by the FY2023 CDC RPE grant to assess their organizational capacity for SV prevention. Utilizing a health equity lens to inform decision making, FNWA plans to build upon and strengthen their Medicine In Action primary prevention plan to Build Infrastructure to Support SV Prevention Activities by conducting a Primary Prevention Capacity Assessment, Developing a Tribal SV Primary Prevention Action Plan, and Implementing the Tribal SV Primary Prevention Action Plan. Through these efforts FNWA will raise awareness on SV, provide education on SV, and reduce SV correlated health disparities by addressing associated inequities within the Indigenous Determinants of Health (IDOH) in ND.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).