New Mexico is poised to receive $10.5 million from the U.S. Justice Department for domestic violence and sexual assault prevention. The money will go to two Pueblo governments, as well as 15 organizations through the Violence Against Women Act and the Victims of Crime Act.
Alexandria Taylor is the executive director of the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, which received a grant of $950,000. She said that money is going towards continuing and expanding the organization’s reach in rural New Mexico.
“Sexual violence and gender-based violence actually thrive in isolation,” she said.
She said that because resources, media coverage and policy usually focus on metro areas, people experiencing domestic violence outside cities often have fewer options and longer drives to them.
Taylor also said the organization has received the grant before and used it to work with Sexual Assault Services of Northwest New Mexico in Farmington and La Piñon Sexual Assault Recovery Services in Las Cruces. It will continue that work with this money, while adding a new partner, Roberta’s Place, in Grants.
“They serve a large area that includes Tribal communities. There's also a correctional facility, so they serve a very diverse and large rural population not large in number of people but large in area covered,” Taylor said.
In Grants, the funds will go towards expanding a sexual assault nurse practitioner program. Taylor said that without it, people would have to travel to Albuquerque for those services, which isn’t always safe or possible.
Other recipients include the Pueblo of Jemez and the Santo Domingo Pueblo, which received $900,000 and $665,000 respectively from the Office on Violence Against Women. The New Mexico Dream Center of Albuquerque was awarded almost $2 million for work related to human trafficking.
The Centers for Disease Control says about 41% of women and 26% of men in the U.S. experience sexual or physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Those numbers are higher for Indigenous and Black populations, people of color more generally, people with disabilities and people who identify as LGBTQI+.
This coverage is made possible by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and KUNM listeners.
This story has been updated to reflect the correct name of La Piñon Sexual Assault Recovery Services.
