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Kansas Groups Meet To Discuss Funding Plans To Combat Domestic And Sexual Violence

Courtesy photo
Wichita Sexual Assault Center Executive Director Kathy Williams

Several federal grants intended to assist survivors of domestic and sexual violence are set to be released in the coming months. Groups across Kansas met at the statehouse in Topeka on Thursday to discuss a new strategic plan for the grant process.

The governor’s office annually awards funding provided by the Violence Against Women Act grants program. The money is directed toward organizations that specifically combat sexual violence, domestic violence and stalking.

Kathy Williams, executive director of the Wichita Sexual Assault Center, says the funding makes a big difference in their ability to support survivors of sexual assault.

"This money goes to fund our court advocates," Williams says. "It is very, very difficult for survivors who have had no interaction with the criminal justice system to have someone that can be with them and support them through that process."

Williams says an increase in past funding has allowed the center to hire an advocate to do outreach to the LGBT community and to respond to people in prison who reveal sexual abuse. The center has served more than 713 survivors of sexual assault during the first quarter of 2017.

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Carla Eckels is assistant news director and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels.

 
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

 

Carla Eckels is Director of Organizational Culture at KMUW. She produces and hosts the R&B and gospel show Soulsations and brings stories of race and culture to The Range with the monthly segment In the Mix. Carla was inducted into The Kansas African American Museum's Trailblazers Hall of Fame in 2020 for her work in broadcast/journalism.