Focus Areas

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…

Attention to commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in the U.S. has increased significantly with passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and its subsequent reauthorizations. Understandably, most of the focus of law enforcement, government, media, policy makers, service providers, researchers, and funders has been on commercial sexual exploitation of girls (CSEG).

Commercially sexually exploited boys (CSEB), on the other hand, who may be considered too few…

In this informational session, participants will gain:

• Understanding of the methods and types of exploitation.
• Knowledge of common red flags and risk factors of Commercial Sexual Exploitation
• Over view of the basic steps of response to CSEC (Reporting & Exit Process)

The intent of this presentation is to provide a starting place or a template for your program when responding to requests, typically from corrections agencies, for presentations for staff or incarcerated people about advocacy services. The concept of advocacy may be a new one for corrections staff and for incarcerated people. We have included the key points and best practice approaches to discussing the topic and expect you may customize some aspects of the slides to meet your community’s…

Often in advocacy we are asked by survivors “why didn’t I fight? Why am I not a fighter?” This information can be useful to share with survivors and help them be able to think more kindly about their body/brain’s reaction to the violence they experienced.

The Amygdala's Role in Stress Response

The brain’s job is to take care of the body. The brain is divided into four key areas: the neocortex/cerebrum, the cerebellum, the limbic system, and the brainstem. Each area focuses…

Advocates and therapists have important roles in promoting the healing of survivors of childhood and teen sexual abuse, as well as survivors' nonoffending family members. When we work together, we can develop strong partnerships that ensure survivors have therapy options that are relevant to their needs. This offers survivors and their families a continuum of care that can help ease, and possibly hasten, the path of healing.

This booklet was developed for advocates and aims to…

As sexual assault advocates, we seek to provide thoughtful, client-centered services to a survivor left vulnerable and traumatized after they have experienced sexual violence.

But what do you do when the client may feel difficult to work with because of their own personality or background?
How do you advocate for a nonresponsive client, a client with cognitive disabilities, or a client who is in constant chaos?

In this webinar, we will look at common client scenarios…

As advocates in the Anti-Sexual Violence Movement, we are all too familiar with the term and impacts of vicarious trauma. How then do we relieve ourselves of the imprints that a survivor’s story leaves on us? An important way of coping with the intensity of the work is to first acknowledge that it WILL affect you.

In an organization plagued with policies and procedures sometimes we forget to implement “practices.” A few practices to consider are:

• …

Many young people feel being pressured into having sex or participating in a sexual act before one feels entirely ready is a normal part of growing up; this is especially true if they have received little to no healthy relationship and sex education. However, we know this is a form of sexual violence and advocates working with youth have a unique opportunity to debunk this myth. Every person has complete control over their body and choice with whom and when they decide to hug, kiss, have sex…