It is with shame and embarrassment that KCSDV notes, during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, that the City of Topeka and Shawnee County have not yet resolved their debate about who will prosecute domestic violence misdemeanor crimes.

The funding battle over who will pay to prosecute domestic violence misdemeanors in Shawnee County and the City of Topeka is very disturbing. While we understand that funding is tight everywhere, using domestic violence prosecution as a football to toss back and forth is unacceptable.

A group of community partners in Newton was selected in January of 2010 as a pilot site for a state project funded by a federal grant. Newton used the federal dollars to enhance the community’s response to domestic violence and provide safety for victims and their children through the criminal justice domestic violence response process.

The departure of Juliene Maska from the Kansas Governor’s Grants Program office is a great loss to Kansas domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy programs and the victims they serve.

The Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (KCSDV) joins nationwide efforts to recognize the month of April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a time to highlight this pervasive crime that affects at least 3,040 women and 962 men in Kansas each year. KCSDV urges all Kansans to strengthen their efforts to provide safety and support for victims and accountability for perpetrators in their community.