Federal grant to help stop violence against women

By Benjamin Baxter
The Collegian

Fresno State will receive a federal grant of nearly $200,000 to raise awareness of violence against women through working with community partners.

Only 31 such grants were given to schools nationwide from the Office of Violence Against Women in the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a press release.

Associate criminology professor Bernette Muscat and Women’s Resource Center coordinator Francine Oputa worked to receive the grant.

Oputa and Muscat said they plan to use the money to target issues ranging from domestic violence to sexual assault and stalking.

The project will fund additional training for campus police in the areas of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking cases. They will also be specifically trained to work with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

Those involved in the project anticipate working with the Marjaree Mason Center, a group specializing in dealing with domestic violence issues, and Rape Counseling Service.

The center hopes these measures will reduce the occurrence of and improve the effectiveness of action taken against violence towards women.

Fresno State alumna Micaela Vargas was hired as project coordinator, having had extensive experience and training with a variety of issues. These include suicide, sexual assault and domestic violence.

She spoke of the reasons such measures are necessary. “A lot of the victims don’t want to come forward,” Vargas said. “They fear not being taken seriously, being victimized, that justice won’t be served or simply being embarrassed.”

“Sometimes it is more than one or all of these,” Vargas said. She said Sue Rudd, another Fresno State alumna, will assist her.

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