Women’s Fund to Award $45,000 to Organizations Addressing Sexual Violence

SPRINGFIELD — The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts (WFWM) announced a spring grant cycle to fund organizations that are working to fight sexual violence in the Western Mass. region. Funding for this grant cycle is made possible by a grant the WFWM received from the Fund for the Me Too Movement and Allies (the Me Too Fund), housed at the New York Women’s Foundation.

Joining the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, the Women’s Foundation of California, and the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota in this work, WFWM will carry out the Me Too Fund’s goal of ensuring ongoing philanthropic investments toward transforming the oppressive systems that produce structural inequalities of power that result in harassment and violence by making grants from this fund in and for the local community.

“The Women’s Fund of Western Mass. is proud to have been selected to partner with the Fund for the Me Too Movement and Allies to support organizations devoted to preventing and interrupting sexual violence in Western Mass.,” said Donna Haghighat, WFWM CEO. “As our recent research report has shown, over 82% of the perpetrators of sexual assault were known by their victims/survivors. This funding will allow us to focus on preventing such assaults and reducing this staggering statistic.”

Applications will be accepted from women- and girl-serving organizations in all four counties of Western Mass. starting on March 1, and the deadline to submit applications is 5 p.m. on March 31. Projects funded by this grant from WFWM must focus on prevention and/or intervention of sexual violence and harassment.

Visit mywomensfund.org for additional information or to apply.