Tester Delivers Grant to Combat Violence Against Women in Bozeman

Senator Announces More Than $500,000 to Support Women, Hold Perpetrators Accountable

(Missoula, Mont.) – As part of his ongoing support for women, U.S. Senator Jon Tester today delivered a critical grant to combat sexual and domestic violence in Bozeman.

The grant, worth $523,712, will help the City of Bozeman work with local officials and nonprofits to advocate and provide legal services for survivors of domestic and sexual assault in Gallatin Valley.

“We must find ways to continue to support all survivors of domestic and sexual survivors,” Tester said. “This grant will let Bozeman offer critical services to survivors, and it will hold those who commit these sick crimes accountable.”

The grant is administered through the U.S. Department of Justice Rural Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking Program, and will provide for an on-call sexual assault nurse examiner, a high-risk offender identification team, trainings, and a legal advocate to help survivors get protection orders. The nonprofits and offices included in the award are the Montana State University Police Department and Victims Options in Campus Environment Center; the Gallatin County Attorney’s Office; the Bozeman Police Department; Bozeman Health Services; HAVEN; the Sexual Assault Counseling Center; and CASA/Guardian Ad Litem.

“All of us at HAVEN are grateful for the opportunity to renew this collaboration with our government and nonprofit partners,” said HAVEN Executive Director Erica Aytes Coyle. “We know it will take the entire community to end the epidemic of domestic violence in the Gallatin Valley and this funding brings us one step closer to achieving that goal.”

Tester has relentlessly supported women, and survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Last month he secured a grant to help Salish Kootenai College combat sexual and domestic violence on campus, and in 2017 he helped pass the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act, which invests $481.5 million in the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women, which provided for this grant.