New Brunswick is expanding community-based sexual violence services to more regions throughout the province.

The recent provincial budget included $800,000 to expand specialized crisis support and trauma counselling.

Five communities already offer the services, including Saint John, Moncton, Fredericton, Edmundston and the Acadian Peninsula.

The new investment will allow them to expand to Bathurst, Campbellton, Kent County, Miramichi, St. Stephen, Shediac, Sussex and Woodstock.

“This expansion to more communities will increase awareness and prevention and provide much-needed support to survivors,” Tammy Scott-Wallace, the minister responsible for women’s equality, said in a news release.

In addition, the province has budgeted more than $430,000 to improve prevention and response to sexual violence on the campuses of post-secondary institutions.

Provincial officials said this year’s overall budget for Women’s Equality is $6.4 million, a 37.5 per cent increase over last year.