The Department of Justice recently awarded 27 schools, including The University of Nevada, Reno, grants to fight sexual violence. UNR received $300,000 and the money will go to the Center for Application of Substance Abuse Technologies.
Our reporter Marcus Lavergne sat down with CASAT's project coordinator, Justine Hernandez, to talk about the university's efforts.
Hernandez says part of the problem is that there's an assumption that sexual assaults in college are usually violent acts committed by strangers.
"It's not always violent; it's not always aggressive" she says. "Sometimes it's verbal coercion. Sometimes it's just fear, and you feel as though 'no' isn't an option. And you feel like you have to say yes. If you ever feel like you have to do something, that's not OK."