This brochure is an easy reference to the basics of mandated reporting for Sexual Assault Advocates.
It is a parent’s job to worry about their children — to ensure all of their needs are taken care of. But there is one need that we don’t always think of — in the hustle and bustle of everyday life and trying to make sure everyone is fed and clothed — and that is the importance of encouraging frequent and thorough communication with and from the children themselves. A key component of discovering, and putting an end to, child sexual abuse is disclosure. Disclosure is when child sexual abuse…
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This webinar is an introduction into the basics of Child Sexual Assault (CSA) Advocacy. Whether you have been working as a CSA advocate for years and are looking for a quick refresher or are a total beginner and these are your first steps into the field - this webinar is the perfect opportunity to dive into CSA Advocacy 101.
Bienvenidos a la tercera y última parte de nuestra serie en Fundamentación y Manejo de Ansiedad en Niños En esta trilogía nos hemos enfocado en actividades simples y divertidas que usted puede hacer con su hij@ para ayudarles a manejar sus frustraciones y ansiedades. Estas actividades se han visto mucho más necesarias en esta época de pandemia, horas escolares reducidas, y eventos mundiales estresantes.
Este segmento se enfoca en ejercicios de respiración que no solo son fáciles a…
This Advocacy Station addresses several frequently asked questions in regards to sexual assault advocates and their mandated reporting responsibilities in regards to minors. It also provides guidance on best practice procedures to eliminate issues in regards to over-reporting.
Bienvenidos a la segunda parte de nuestra trilogía sobre la Fundamentación y Manejo de Ansiedad en Niños Jóvenes. Nuestro enfoque en esta serie es de modelar actividades que son divertidas, simples, y educativas que usted pueda enseñar a toda su familia - especialmente a sus chiquitines - para poder manejar el estrés y la ansiedad. En esta segunda parte estaremos aprendiendo como hacer una “Caja de Preocupaciones”.
Caja de Preocupaciones
Crea una experiencia divertida y…
Mientras seguimos avanzando con este “nuevo normal” que nos ha dejado la pandemia, es natural y esperado que ambos niños y padres sientan un aumento en su ansiedad. Esto es frecuentemente empeorado por la falta de privacidad generada por tener a toda la familia en casa- trabajando desde el hogar, o haciendo estudios escolares en línea. En situaciones como estas, es importante tener estrategias adicionales para poder facilitar este nuevo desafío. En esta serie nos estaremos enfocando en…
Welcome to the third and final part of our series in grounding and anxiety management with young children! For this three-part series we have been focusing on fun and simple activities that you can do with your child to help them better cope with their feelings of frustration and anxiety. This has proven to be especially needed as children (and parents!), have been dealing with the challenges of reduced school times and slow progress on the Pandemic front. Each video resource referenced is…
In this training you will learn about the immigration system as it pertains to children. You'll learn about the current practices regarding detaining children at the Southern border and how these children end up living all over Washington state. You'll get a brief overview of the immigration court system in the United States.
Then, we will discuss various visas and other ways that child survivors of violence can obtain lawful status in the United States. Most importantly, we will…
Welcome to the second installment in our 3-part series on grounding and anxiety management with young children! In this series we are focusing on simple, fun, and helpful activities that you can teach anyone in your family, including young children, to help them cope with stressors and anxiety. For our second activity, we will be learning how to make a "Worry Box".
Worry Box
Create a fun, bonding experience with your child by teaching them how to cope and deal with worries and…
As we continue slogging through the “new normal” dictated by the ongoing pandemic, it is expected and natural that both parents and children are struggling with increased anxiety. This can be made worse by a forced lack of privacy such as, the whole family trying to work from home and/or do online schooling while in one enclosed space. In situations like these, additional tools for support are super useful. We will be focusing on a few coping strategies that are simple enough that even very…
Sibling sexual abuse impacts families in multiple ways, and working with parents to manage the impact of this is challenging. This webinar offers education on sibling sexual abuse, the typical systemic response to it, and ideas for how to increase the safety of the victim, who often must remain living with the perpetrator.
After the 2019 legislative session, the Statute of Limitations (SOL) law was updated to eliminate the SOL for specific sexual assault crimes, and modify it for others. This law is not retroactive, meaning sexual assault crimes committed prior to this law’s effective date (July 28, 2019) cannot be prosecuted according to this new law. RCW…
During the 2019 legislative session, legislation specific to the work of child sexual assault multi-disciplinary teams, or MDTs, was included. House Bill 5465: a law to direct multi-disciplinary teams to develop and implement protocols for online and commercial sexual exploitation was successfully passed. Included in this law is language clarification regarding information sharing between MDT…
The Adverse Childhood Experiences study (ACEs) is a longitudinal study; a research method in which the data was gathered about ACEs over a long period of time. This study also serves as an ongoing tool for measuring the relationship between early life trauma and later life health and wellbeing. This Advocacy Station explores the survey and research findings of the original Kaiser-CDC study.
We will also examine the ways in which the study has been useful to our understanding of early…
Commercial sexual exploitation of children, or human trafficking, is when a commercial sex act is exchanged for something of value with a minor, and/or when force, fraud, or coercion are present. The legal and cultural language around what we refer to as “commercial sexual exploitation” has evolved over time. We’ve shifted the use of our language to match our current understanding of the power dynamics, legalities, and the lived experience of young people that…
Children and teens experience power disparity as they navigate a world created by adults, and this socialization is compounded in the powerlessness caused by sexual violence. As advocates practice confidentiality with child and teen survivors of sexual violence, we challenge the inherent power adults have over children and youth. Advocates can constantly check personal bias about children and teens, and avoid assumptions that we know what is best for…
Power is not inherently good nor bad, but it is used to benefit or target individuals along a spectrum of accessibility. We can easily identify ways in which racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, etc., manifest in our society, and how they might intersect with each other. We can also see how individuals and groups of people who have less access to power, or who are targets of power, are more vulnerable to sexual violence. Sexual violence is indeed about…
Therapists can be a critical component of a child's support system and healing process following abuse. However, many children are reluctant to participate in counseling because they don't want to talk about what happened or they may believe that going to therapy means something is wrong with them. While there are significant areas of overlap between a therapist and an advocate, it is because of their differences that they are both important members of a child's professional team after a…
For many survivors, coming forward and accessing resources also includes the pursuit of justice. However, personal feelings of justice do not always align with the traditional models of punishment-based responses that are seen as the only pathway to justice. In cases of child sexual abuse these models of justice can be even trickier to navigate due to the complicated contexts and relationships involved.
For these reasons, the framework of Transformative Justice can be helpful in…
In studies of adults who were sexually abused as children, two out of three said they never told anyone about the abuse during childhood (London, Bruck, Ceci & Shuman). Accordingly, we can expect survivors may not seek help until they are adults. As advocates, we should feel prepared to work with adult survivors who may no longer be in an immediate danger of assault and meet these survivors in varied places along the healing spectrum. Here are some considerations in your advocacy with…
Sex and sexuality are important and integral parts of most young people’s lives, and survivors of sexual abuse and assault are no exception. In fact, survivors may find it more necessary to explore their sexual identity and more complex to navigate engaging in sexual activity. This may be due to real, projected, or feared impacts of sexual assault on aspects of sexuality, including sexual identity, sexual relationships, and sexual experiences. As advocates, it’s crucial we provide space for…
