TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has awarded a grant to the University of Kansas Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Program for a new prevention initiative.

The Cultivating Protective Communities program will expand beyond KU, reaching communities across Kansas to create more protective environments against sexual assault using green design and strategic prevention.

“When we move to environmental and situational prevention, we’re saying instead of putting pressure on people to be aware of their surroundings, how can we make their surroundings aware of them,” said SAPEC Prevention Coordinator Taylor Jones. “That means looking at a space and being able to see what aspects of that environment provide more vulnerable areas.”

With the help of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Rape Prevention and Education Grant, administered by KDHE, SAPEC will launch the new initiative with funding that will last through 2029, according to a KDHE news release.

In addition to serving as prevention coordinator, Jones will serve as program facilitator for Cultivating Protective Communities. She will oversee communication and resources for program implementation sites across the state.

“They will have access to the funding to get education or training in violence prevention through environmental design,” Jones said. “Whether it’s a bar in town, a local shelter or a local mental health centre, they can choose that location and I can support them as well as help train that site so that the site feels good at what i do “

Each site’s implementation team will work with community members to “reduce opportunities to engage in harmful behaviors and increase willingness to engage in protective behaviors,” according to the press release.

An implementation site, Jana’s Campaign, a Hays-based nonprofit dedicated to gender and relationship violence education and prevention. The collaboration will allow Jana’s Campaign to expand beyond education as well as increase prevention measures.

“With this funding we can have two sites for implementation,” said Kaiti Blackburn, executive director of Jana’s Campaign. “We put together a committee and within the next two years our goal is to have a site on the (State University) Fort Hays campus and then one in the Ellis County community.”

Blackburn said the ultimate goal remains the same: focusing on education to prevent these situations.

“Through this project and the Jane’s Campaign in general, our ultimate goal is to stop violence before it starts,” Blackburn said. “So if we can reduce dating violence, domestic violence, sexual violence and/or stalking, that’s our goal so we can live in a community where healthy and safe relationships are more the norm.”