Tara Muhlhauser, Bismarck

North Dakota legislators must pass House Bill 1004, as the safety of thousands of North Dakotans depends on it. If passed, HB1004 would provide additional funding to the public health division of the Department of Health and Human Services. This division helps fund the 20 domestic violence/sexual assault (DV/SA) crisis and advocacy programs across North Dakota that are in desperate need of increased funding. I am writing to you as the Executive Director of CAWS North Dakota, the statewide coalition representing these programs.

DV/SA agencies provide wrap-around safety, healing, and prevention services. This includes round-the-clock crisis response, shelter/housing, counseling, accountability/education for those who have used violence, crime victim advocacy, sexual assault response/advocacy, supervised visitation and exchange, prevention/outreach, legal services, and transitional housing/self-sufficiency support.

In the most recent yearly data available, North Dakota DV/SA programs served 5,417 new victims of domestic violence and 1,169 new victims of sexual assault. The lifetime impact of these crimes will reach nearly 18% of North Dakota’s population (94,660 women and 44,495 men).

State funding for many of our DV/SA agencies has remained relatively flat–and in some years decreased–throughout the past 10 years, even though the need for DV/SA services has increased. The COVID-19 pandemic, increased cost of living, and loss of major resources such as Lutheran Social Services only added fuel to the fire for crisis centers that were already at capacity.

Without the additional funding HB1004 would provide, DV/SA crisis centers will remain in crisis mode themselves, meaning fewer DV/SA victims will receive the safety and support they need, fewer abusers will be held accountable for their actions, and any chance of getting ahead of the problem through evidence-based prevention efforts is virtually non-existent.

I invite North Dakotans to join me in contacting our legislators and encouraging them to pass HB1004 for the health and safety of North Dakota families. Together, we can build a violence-free North Dakota.