The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) recently received a grant that will help support and empower sexual assault survivors and victims.
Awarded by the Office of Justice Programs’ (OJP) Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), it helps establish a program that will permit on-campus access to Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs).
OVC awarded almost $4 million to eight institutions in the country; $499,948 of that was awarded to UTRGV.
The grant will establish or expand SANE programs, which offer medical forensic care, advocacy and other victim services to sexual assault survivors on college campuses.
With assistance from the South Texas Forensic Nurse Project (STFNP), the program at UTRGV will:
- Increase the number of certified SANEs in the Valley.
- Promote forensic nursing as a career path for future nurses.
- Provide more comprehensive and thorough advocacy for victims and survivors on campus.
- Address the needs of victims and survivors by confronting and dispelling harmful stereotypes and stigmas surrounding violence victimization, especially sexual violence.
Made up of four main components – Student Health, Undergraduate Nursing, Graduate Nursing, and SART (Sexual Assault Response Teams) – the project will both expand existing programming and create new programming.
In addition, the SANE grants will allow universities to create a pipeline of highly skilled registered nurses that support victims of sexual assault and hold offenders accountable.
Republished courtesy of UTRGV. Photo: Parwinder Grewal, executive vice president for Research, Graduate Studies, and New Program Development at UTRGV, announcing the $499,948 grant. Credit: UTRGV