Civil Rights
Civil Rights Complaint Process
All clients, customers, program participants, employees, job applicants, or consumers of The Iowa Attorney General's Office, and those of their grantees have the right to participate in programs and activities operated by the Victim Assistance Section or its grantees regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability. In addition, grantees of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) grants are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
Anyone who thinks they have been discriminated against by an employee of The Iowa Attorney General's Office or a grantee of The Iowa Attorney General's Office, on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, or thinks they have been retaliated against by an Iowa Attorney General employee or grantee, may file a written complaint alleging such discrimination by completing the online discrimination complaint form. In addition, recipients or grantees of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) funds are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
Any employee of the Victim Assistance Section of the Iowa Attorney General's Office who receives a discrimination complaint from an employee, a job applicant, client, customer, program participant or consumer of the Victim Assistance Section or of a grantee, must forward the completed complaint form to the grant administrator, who will document the complaint and forward it to the Victim Assistance section chief.
The Victim Assistance section chief shall instruct the Victim Assistance staff regarding the next steps to take regarding the complaint.
Complainants will also be informed that they may file complaints directly with the Department of Justice:
Office for Civil Rights
Office of Justice Programs
U.S. Department of Justice
999 N. Capitol Street, NE
Washington, DC 20531
For more information on filing a complaint see https://www.ojp.gov/program/civil-rights-office/filing-civil-rights-complaint.
Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of civil rights violations can learn how to report violations by visiting civilrights.justice.gov.
If you believe that you are a victim of criminal civil rights violations, such as misconduct by law enforcement officers, hate crimes, or human trafficking, please contact your local FBI office.
If a Federal or State court or Federal or State administrative agency makes a finding of discrimination after a due process hearing on the ground of race, religion, national origin, sex, or disability against a recipient of victim assistance formula funds The Iowa Attorney General's Office will forward a copy of the findings to the Office for Civil Rights of OJP.
