OGDEN — Weber State University’s Safe@Weber program is receiving an award from the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

The Sexual Assault Awareness Month Program Partner of the Year award will be presented to Safe@Weber at a ceremony April 28 in Salt Lake City.

Several other SAAM awards will be presented to people such as Kortney Hughes of the Provo Police Department, Chrissandra Murphy of Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation and Zakia Richardson of Utah Legal Services.

UCASA Excutive Director Turner Bitton said Weber State's program was selected because it has an LGBTQ-specific sexual violence prevention program.

"We see really high rates of violence committed against LGBT folks, so having specific programming for LGBT individuals is a huge step forward for the community," he said.

Another reason Safe@Weber stood out is because of it's comprehensive nature. Bitton called it a "model program."

Safe@Weber offers sexual violence prevention programming, bystander intervention training and a myriad of non-confidential resources for assault survivors through the Women’s Center. 

All Weber State students are required to take an online Safe@Weber course, according to Standard-Examiner archives.

"They've created a program that is victim centered, that is focused on the needs of the person in the situation they're currently in and works with them," Bitton said.

This piece originally appeared in the Standard Examiner. Click here to read the original article.