Grant Will Aid Center’s Rape Prevention Effort

The Valley Trauma Center at Cal State Northridge has received a $12,500 grant that will allow it to reach more people who speak only Spanish.

The funds, from Kaiser Permanente San Fernando Valley Health Partnership, will go toward providing more Spanish-language versions of the trauma center’s date rape prevention project outreach materials.

“It’s exciting to reach that segment in the community,” said Dove Poock, the trauma center’s prevention education coordinator. “It’s a pretty good chunk of the people we serve.”

Volunteers at the date rape prevention project give free presentations about sexual assault, relationship violence, sexual harassment and child abuse, Poock said. Volunteers also meet with rape victims at hospitals, she said. Poock said an estimated one out of three women will be sexually assaulted before they turn 18; one woman out of four has been assaulted by an acquaintance or has been the victim of an attempted assault. Yet nine out of 10 sexual assaults never get reported, she said.

“It’s important to create awareness and prevent some of this,” Poock said.

The trauma center does outreach from its two offices in the San Fernando and Antelope valleys.

For more information, call the Valley Trauma center at its 24-hour hotline, (818) 886-0453 or (805) 253-0258.