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Campus Community Consortium

Penn, Drexel and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, in cooperation with community-based partners, have joined together to develop the Campus Community Consortium to reduce violent crimes against women in University City. It will be funded with a grant from the Department of Justice, as part of its Grants to Reduce Violent Crimes Against Women on Campus Program.

The Consortium will enable the three universities to develop a comprehensive, coordinated response to violence against women on campus. The Consortium's goals are to develop and strengthen victim/survivor services, to strengthen effective security and investigative strategies to combat violent crimes against women, and to promote awareness and prevention through training and outreach programs.

"This unique collaboration between public and private institutions will benefit women on our campus and in our West Philadelphia community for generations to come," said President Judith Rodin.

The Consortium will also include three nonprofit, nongovernmental victim services agencies: Women Against Abuse, The Women's Law Project and Women Organized Against Rape, as well as the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the Philadelphia Police Department, Special Victims Unit.

"The Penn Women's Center is very pleased to provide leadership for this unique initiative to address violent crimes against women on campus within the West Philadelphia community," said Elena DiLapi, PWC director and the grant's principal investigator. "We look forward to developing this partnership with key women's advocacy organizations and government entities as a model for increasing support to victims/survivors of violence against women and for increasing the report, arrest and adjudication of perpetrators of such violence. It is our hope that collectively we can help decrease these crimes in West Philadelphia and improve the experiences of women on our campuses and throughout the community."

The Department of Justice has provided financial resources for the Consortium through a grant of $400,000 for a period of two years. The Grants to Reduce Violent Crimes Against Women on Campus Program was authorized by the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 and reauthorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 2000. It provides a unique opportunity for institutions of higher education to establish multidisciplinary consortia to combat violent crimes against women on campuses. These comprehensive efforts are designed to enhance victim services, implement prevention and education programs, and develop and strengthen security and investigation strategies in order to prevent and respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking crimes on campuses.