April 19, 2008 — Government House announced on Friday a first-ever meeting between top territorial officials and members of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Council (DVSAC). The meeting with representatives from the 21-year-old agency was held Monday.
"I appreciated everything he said. He did seem supportive," said DVSAC Executive Director Lynn Spencer of the governor.
The meeting included Gov. John P. deJongh, Jr. along with representatives from the Attorney General’s Office, the Virgin Islands Police Department, the Department of Human Services, and the Department of Education. It was held in conjunction with April being declared by the governor Sexual Abuse Awareness Month and was prompted in part, according to Spencer, by her organization's appeal to gubernatorial candidates to promise a sit-down with DVSAC if elected.
"We didn’t hear our issues coming to the forefront," said Spencer, recalling the election process. "We put out a questionnaire, and all three of the gubernatorial candidates answered our questions, so this was the follow-up to that."
According to Government House, the meeting's discussion included strengthening the partnership between DVSAC and the V.I. Government; procuring greater funding for key resources and personnel; sharing information on firearms and the 911 territorial system; increasing accessibility to federal resources; building local and federal cooperation; providing for additional preventative programs; improving the effectiveness and reach of current legislation, and developing a more comprehensive and inclusive budget.
Spencer added that hiring trained monitors for the schools was also discussed.
"I walked away with a commitment from the governor to meet again this calendar year and to seriously look at the issues we raised at the table — with a feeling that this governor generally is concerned about victims," said Spencer.
DVSAC is a territory-wide, non-partisan, non-profit membership organization committed to ending domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence. DVSAC provides education, training, technical assistance and other types of support to domestic violence and sexual assault programs and advocates, and other service providers.
The DVSAC coalition is made up of the following member agencies: Women’s Coalition of St. Croix; Family Resource Center of St. Thomas; the St. John Community Crisis Center; Law Enforcement Planning Commission; Legal Services of the Virgin Islands; Men’s Coalition of the Virgin Islands; Office of the U.S. Attorney; Superior Court of the Virgin Islands; The Village; VICARE; V.I. Firearms Taskforce; V.I. Department of Health/Division of Mental Health; V.I. Department of Human Services; V.I. Department of Justice; and the V.I. Police Department.
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