Penn, Drexel University and the University of Sciences received a $400,000 federal grant aimed at reducing violent crime against women on their campuses and in the West Philadelphia area for the second time in two years.
The three universities will use the funding to raise awareness of stalking and dating violence in the area and to help the local police think about how they handle these crimes.
The grant -- which coincides with October's Domestic Violence Awareness Month -- is a renewal of joint funding given to the universities in 2003 by the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women.
The universities will work in conjunction with the Penn Women's Center, the Philadelphia Police Department, the District Attorney's Office and several local nonprofit agencies.
The organizations involved have spent the last two years studying the situation and deliberating about how best to use the money. They also printed 10,000 leaflets this year about resources available to help women who may be struggling with violence on campus.
Nationally, violent crimes against women are the most underreported on college campuses, with up to 83 percent of stalking victims never notifying the proper authorities, according to estimates from the National Center for Victims of Crime.
Penn Women's Center Director Elena Di Lapi said that as women are already hesitant to turn in close acquaintances, most of the funding will go toward educating police officers on each campus about stalking and dating violence to ensure that victims receive an open and nonjudgmental response when they come forward with a report.
Di Lapi said she could not give specific numbers as to how many students are victims of violence, but she added that she gets complaints each semester.
Di Lapi added that campus police are generally unprepared to handle sensitive cases of student-to-student violence.
Key to dealing with a report of sexual or physical assault is remaining neutral.
"Never ask any questions of a victim who has just explained something horrendous," said Sandy Ortman, director of special projects at the California Coalition of Sexual Assaults.
Ortman said that part of the reason victims do not come forward when they have experienced assault is a lack of a sensitive response to these crimes.
"The victim is going to take cues from the person they tell," Ortman said, emphasizing the importance of a positive police response in handling dating violence.
Since the Violence Against Women Act was passed by Congress in 1995, the Office on Violence Against Women has administered more than $1 billion in grants to women's organizations around the country.
