VCU receives grant from Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women

Two-year award aims to reduce crimes against women and increase victim support

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Virginia Commonwealth University has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. The two-year award is part of a nationwide effort to reduce violent crimes against women on college campuses.

Sarah Jane Brubaker, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology, serves as the grant’s project director and principal investigator.  D. Gay Cutchin, M.S., professor of sociology and coordinator of VCU’s Resource Center on Sexual and Domestic Violence, is co-investigator. Tammy McKeown, M.S., VCU’s Coordinator of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence services, serves as prevention and advisory group coordinator.

“We’re happy to have succeeded in securing this grant,” said Brubaker. “It will allow us to provide a number of training opportunities and support services to boost crime prevention and response.”

The grant, which totals $177,027, allows VCU to implement mandatory education about crimes against women through the first-year academic program, University College, and through online training as students register for an Electronic ID. The training will emphasize risk reduction, the importance of reporting crimes of violence against women, and available services for victims.

The grant will also expand and enhance VCU’s Coordinated Community Response Team, or CCRT, and create an online database for printable brochures with information on available services as well as criminal and campus judicial options.

The grant also makes possible a conference to offer training for those who investigate violent crimes against women. The conference will be open to campus and community police officers.

The award allows the university to convene an advisory group to review and recommend revisions and additions to VCU’s Sexual Misconduct Policy and to create and deliver new sexual assault, dating/domestic violence and stalking policies to the University Hearing Board.

The grant also supports university efforts to expand prevention programming for VCU students with an emphasis on programs that reach males, provide support groups for victims of sexual or dating/domestic violence, and hire a part-time victim-witness advocate to provide court accompaniment and be available to students for victim-witness services.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women has funded programs on more than 175 campuses since the campus grant effort started in 1999.