UW-Madison officials partnered with student advocacy groups and law enforcement Thursday to unveil a new campuswide initiative to address the problems of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking.
UW-Madison will unify its many efforts to prevent sexual assault and increase education on campus under a new program called Evoc, according to officials.
Evoc aims to increase visibility on campus for the many projects made possible by a $300,000 highly competitive grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice and administered by University Health Services.
Administrators, the student organization Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment and law enforcement said too much progress on the issue of sexual violence had been made to risk moving backward by reducing efforts in prevention, education and survivor assistance.
""I am a survivor of domestic violence as a college student over 15 years ago when I went to a small university,"" said Shannon Berry, director of domestic-abuse intervention services in Dane County, noting that she had been moved by the Evoc announcement into sharing her story.
""Reaching out to the dean of students, ... at that time I was simply told, ‘Perhaps you simply need to work on your communication skills,'"" she said.
Dean of Students Lori Berquam said UW-Madison treats seriously all instances of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking on campus.
""UW is continuing to take a proactive stance against domestic violence,"" she said. ""The statistics are shocking: 1 in 4 to 1 in 5 women will experience this violence.""
Berquam said the university is committed to making it easier for victims to report sexual assault and that the crime of sexual assault is never the victim's fault, regardless of theirchoice to drink.
The new Evoc program will have benchmarks based on the number of incoming students who complete an online training course.
Preliminary evidence suggests the online program is working, according to Carmen Hotvedt, student services coordinator at UHS.
