Domestic violence (DV), including intimate partner violence, continues to be recognized as a major issue by justice policy planners and public officials. It is a crime that is often used as a means to exert power and control over intimate partners, family members, and others. As a result, it not only affects those who are abused but also other family members and children exposed to the abuse.
Given the consequences of domestic violence, many national and state initiatives have begun to reduce the incidence of domestic violence across the country. At the national level, for instance, the federal government established an initiative called Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) to target the reduction of violent crimes, including domestic violence.
In 2004, the Office of the U.S. Attorney General began a new PSN public service announcement campaign targeting the problem of domestic violence and firearms.
Similar to the efforts at the national level, the PSN initiative in the northern district of West Virginia focused its efforts on the problem of domestic violence. Started in early-2003, the northern PSN district known as Project Safe Homes (PSH), established the goal of reducing the incidence of domestic[size= violence] in the district as well as gun related crime.
