TOPEKA – The Kansas Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Program at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) recently awarded funding to the Sexual Assault Prevention & Education Center (SAPEC) at the University of Kansas. Funding was made possible from the CDC Rape Prevention and Education grant within KDHE’s Injury & Violence Prevention Program and will last through January 2029. This award will help launch SAPEC’s latest project, Cultivating Protective Communities.
SAPEC promotes social change and the elimination of sexual violence through prevention education, inclusive programming, and campus-wide collaboration. The center takes its inspiration from environmental and situational prevention work completed with KU fraternities and sororities, surveying their frequent host sites and educating each other on the importance of a safe environment and community of peers.
“SAPEC’s Cultivating Protective Communities project works to implement environmental design and strategic prevention implementation efforts to create protective environments,” Belinda Flores, KDHE program manager for Sexual Violence Prevention and Education said. “We are currently looking to identify four implementation sites to complete comprehensive assessments to identify community locations to cultivate engagement and identify physical changes.” Three unique Kansas communities, Jana’s Campaign, Livewell Finney County and the Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center, have joined the Cultivating Protective Community project as the first Implementation Site Leaders. Others joining the project include agencies such as Ft. Hays State University, Options Domestic & Sexual Violence Services, High Plains Mental Health Center, the City of Garden City, the Garden City Police Department, Garden City Community College, K-State Extension, Finney County Sheriff’s Department, and the Wichita Police Department. Each implementation site team will collaborate with community partners, focusing on reducing opportunities to engage in harm-causing behavior and increasing the desirability of engaging in protective behaviors.
“KDHE’s Rape Prevention Education funds will enable our teams to collaborate with community partners with a focus on reducing opportunities to engage in harm-causing behavior and increase the desirability of engaging in protective behaviors.” said Taylor Jones, Prevention Educator at the University of Kansas Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Center. For further information, Ms. Jones can be reached at 785-864-5879 or taylorjones@ ku.edu.
