More Funding Announced for Addressing Sexual Violence on Campus

September is National Campus Safety Awareness Month so it is fitting that today the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) has announced that they have awarded 61 grants totaling $25 million to college campuses to strengthen institutional response, reduce the incidence of sexual and domestic violence, and to provide advocacy services to survivors. Twice as many grants were awarded to institutions compared to last year and additional awards were given to organizations that will provide legal assistance to survivors on campus.

Also worth noting, OVW has encouraged colleges and universities to use data from campus climate surveys to inform strategic and intentional response and prevention efforts. OVW Principal Deputy Director Dr. Bea Hanson stated, “Schools that individualize their response to sexual, dating and domestic violence are better able to meet the unique needs of their student populations, especially underserved groups. Coordinated, comprehensive responses allow college communities to develop sustainable strategies to address these crimes. ”

PreventConnect Campus recently produced a web conference to discuss using data to inform sexual and relationship violence and stalking prevention strategies on campus. You can access the materials from the web conference including the recording here.