Washington, DC, April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RALIANCE, a national partnership dedicated to ending sexual violence in one generation, announced today ten recipients of grants totaling $470,000 that will fund promising efforts across the country to prevent sexual harassment, misconduct and abuse.

This is the fourth round of RALIANCE’s ongoing impact grant program, which helps advance projects, strategies and policies that improve responses to victims, prevent sexual violence, misconduct and abuse and strengthen communities’ abilities to create safe environments. The grants are timed to coincide with the Day of Action for Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), a campaign to raise public awareness about sexual violence and educate communities on how to prevent it. The theme for SAAM 2019, “I Ask,” champions the message that asking for consent is a healthy, normal and necessary part of everyday interactions.

“The #MeToo movement has brought significant attention to the widespread nature of sexual misconduct, harassment and abuse.  Now the conversation is shifting to prevention. We’re proud to support these ten innovative projects with concrete strategies that support survivors and make communities healthier and safer,” said Karen Baker, RALIANCE managing partner and Chief Executive Officer of NSVRC. “These accomplished grantees uphold the importance of asking for consent every day through their prevention efforts. Prevention is possible, and it’s happening.”

This diverse group of exceptional grant recipients joins 52 additional projects totaling more than $2.77 million that RALIANCE has invested in through one-year grants since 2016. Comprised of the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV), the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) and California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA)– PreventConnect, RALIANCE was founded in 2015 through a multimillion-dollar seed investment by the National Football League.

The ten grantees each fall into one of RALIANCE’s three focus areas and received awards of up to $50,000.

Category 1: Services or advocacy for people who have been sexually victimized

• $50,000 – National Organization of Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault (SCESA) in Windsor, CT will lead a national project on safe housing and culturally-specific healing spaces for women and girls of color who are survivors of sexual violence.
• $40,000 – The Center for Hope and Healing in Lowell, MA will examine and improve organizational policies, practices and outreach strategies in order to better serve transgender women of color survivors in the community. 

Category 2: Strategies for reducing the likelihood of people to sexually offend

• $50,000 – The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC will listen to the voices and experiences of individuals who commit sexual offenses along with treatment providers describe how they believe adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have contributed to their offending behaviors and identify prevention strategies aimed at reducing sexual violence in our communities.  
• $50,000 – Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, TX will enhance their existing campus relationship and sexual violence prevention programming (RSVP) with the POWER UP! (Panthers Offer Women Everywhere Respect) initiative. The project seeks to develop informed and empowered student athletes who are matriculating at the university with the focus on the treatment of women especially during on campus events such as homecoming, spring break, and spring fest. 
• $50,000 – The Arab-American Family Support Center in New York, NY will expand their healthy relationships and violence prevention curriculum for young people within Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) immigrant and refugee communities in New York City.$40,000 – Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault in Des Moines, IA will evaluate their Parents for Prevention programming through a series of train-the-trainer sessions for parent and caregiver educators in Iowa. 

Category 3: Organizational, systemic or community-level prevention strategies

• $50,000 – Visioning BEAR Circle Intertribal Coalition in Greenfield, MA will expand prevention work to keep children safe using indigenous circle process in both Tribal and Housing and Urban Development Communities.
• $50,000 – Hollaback! in Brooklyn, NY will create, deliver, and evaluate bystander intervention trainings within New York City sporting organizations and workforces.
• $40,000 – PhilaPOSH in Philadelphia, PA will expand their work with the service industry to prevent and respond to sexual harassment in Philadelphia restaurants through training, implementation of better policies, and an awareness raising campaign. 
• $50,000 – YWCA of Southern Arizona in Tucson, AZ will expand its Promotoras Rompiendo Cadenas Program, a year-long- bilingual- community-based awareness and prevention program that helps remove barriers for Latinx victims of sexual violence from seeking help and reporting abuse.  

RALIANCE is a national partnership dedicated to ending sexual violence in one generation. Every day, RALIANCE makes prevention possible by advancing research, influencing policy, supporting innovative programs and helping leaders establish safe workplaces and strong communities. Founded in 2015 through a multimillion dollar seed investment by the National Football League, RALIANCE is based in Washington, DC. 

Julie Patrick
RALIANCE
202-869-8517
jpatrick@raliance.org