Mission

The Center for Advocacy, Resources & Education (CARE) provides anti-oppressive and trauma-informed primary prevention, education, and advocacy to UCD students, faculty, staff and affiliates who have been impacted by sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, intimate partner violence, stalking, and gender identity and sexual orientation based harassment. CARE approaches our work with dedication to honoring each individual for who they are, the identities they hold, and the intersections of their experience.

About

The UC Davis Center for Advocacy, Resources & Education (CARE), a program within the UC Davis Office of the Provost. We provide confidential advocacy, support, and healing services to survivors of sexual harassment and all forms of sexual violence, including sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and stalking. We also facilitate prevention programming and professional training, and serve as subject matter experts with regard to victim dynamics, impact of trauma, bystander intervention, and social norm change.

All survivor advocacy services are confidential, free, and available to any UC Davis affiliate, including: undergraduate, graduate and professional students, faculty, academic appointees, and staff.  Services are available to any survivor, or concerned person of the survivor, regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion, nationality, or citizenship status. We recognize that, while sexual violence and harassment can happen to anyone, individuals within marginalized communities tend to be disproportionately affected by violence and abuse.

Our staff includes a a Victim Advocacy Specialist, an Education and Outreach Specialist, an Intake and Office Coordinator, an Assistant Director and a Director.  CARE is also supported by numerous student volunteers and interns who help provide education to our campus community.  Together, we provide a wide variety of programs and services designed to reduce trauma, inform the University community about the resources available for addressing sexual violence and harassment, and create social change to eliminate gender-based violence.

History

The UC Davis Center for Advocacy, Resources and Education has been a part of the UC Davis community since 1979, when it was first established as the UCD Rape Prevention Program. The UCD Rape Prevention Program, which was originally established through a grant obtained by the UC Davis Police Department, was later renamed Campus Violence Prevention Program (CVPP).  In addition to leading many of the campus’s education and training on sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and stalking, CVPP became the on-campus, confidential resource for UC Davis community members who had experienced sexual violence.

In 2013, CVPP expanded services to the UC Davis Sacramento campus by establishing a position funded 20 hours per week dedicated to providing confidential advocacy and support, and outreach to members of the UC Davis Health community.

In 2014, UC President Napolitano charged the Task Force on Preventing and Responding to Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment with establishing recommendations to improve the climate within the University of California. As a result of these recommendations, in 2015, CVPP was renamed CARE: Advocate Office for Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and Sexual Misconduct; for clarity, the UC Davis CARE program became the Center for Advocacy, Resources and Education. Additionally, as a result of these recommendations, the newly named UC Davis CARE program was moved from the governance of the UC Davis Police Department to the Office of the Provost, reporting directly to the Provost.

Today, CARE staff provide confidential victim advocacy, support, and healing services to members of the UC Davis and UC Davis Health communities, and lead the campus prevention efforts with the vision of eliminating sexual harassment and all forms of sexual violence, including sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and stalking.