for
the Amherst campus of the University of Massachusetts
Oct.
20, 2000
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Efforts to counter violence against women get boost Everywoman's Center in line for $392k federal grant by Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff  he
Everywoman's Center is in line to receive a $392,238 grant from the
U.S. Department of Justice through its Program to Combat Violent Crimes
Against Women on Campuses, according to an Oct. 13 press release from
Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy's office."This grant will increase the campus's leadership in making education about — and prevention of — violence against women an institutional priority," said Chancellor David K. Scott. "This is the first significant funding that has come along that is specifically for college campuses," said Carol Wallace, director of the Everywoman's Center. "The Everywoman's Center has a substantial number of grants and contracts that support rape crisis, but these are to support our work serving all of Hampshire County. These funds are specifically to provide services for students." The center would use the money to hire two new campus educators, Wallace said. "One of those positions will be based at the Everywoman's Center, and one will be on our staff but based at the Men's Resource Center [in Amherst]. Our goal is to use this funding to hire male and female, and possibly transgender, staff to work on issues of men's violence against women. We're committed to working with the transgendered communities, as well. According to Wallace, the new staff would "provide sexual-assault prevention education for all new students, which we've never been able to do before, provide training for all the residence staff and for judicial hearing boards. And they will provide eight hours of training for all 50-plus campus police officers on responding effectively to sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking." Funds would also be used to hire a graduate student half-time to work out of the Dean of Students' Office coordinating cases that involve violence against women and developing and updating University policies and procedures for dealing with sexual assault. The money, said Wallace, "will also enable Public Safety to purchase equipment and develop resources that will increase their capacity to encourage victims of sexual assault to make use of the criminal justice system and also to increase the capacity to apprehend, investigate and adjudicate persons committing violent crimes." |
