Those of us working in the anti-rape movement know that, statistically, the majority of sexual assaults are perpetrated by someone the victim knows, including intimate partners. According to sociologist and author Raquel Kennedy-Bergen,
Intimate partner sexual violence is abuse or assault of a sexual nature perpetrated by someone in an intimate relationship to the survivor. It includes a wide variety of offenses including rape, coercion, forcing the partner to perform…
This edition of the "Research and Advocacy Digest" focuses on the issue of prison rape and sexual coercion behind bars. While hard data on sexual assaults in prison is sparse, most of us in society and within the anti-rape movement know that the rape, torture, brutality and sexual assault of inmates by other inmates and staff are part of the fabric of everyday prison life.
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Prevalence statistics consistently show a high incidence of sexual victimization among people with disabilities. In spite of this fact, people with disabilities are not significantly represented as clientele of traditional sexual assault delivery systems.
This issue of the "Research and Advocacy Digest" provides specific information about sexual violence within various communities of people with disabilities. Furthermore, this digest highlights resources that explore socio-political…
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a complex issue. The diagnosis was first acknowledged as a disorder of individuals experiencing the extreme stress of combat situations.
PTSD has now become a term familiar to the general public as well as a common diagnosis. This issue attempts to provide an overview of recent research on PTSD, particularly those aspects most directly related to victims of sexual assault.
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At WCSAP, we receive a lot of questions from advocates about the "ins and outs" of mandated reporting. Although Washington's law about mandated reporting is pretty straightforward, it can feel much more complex in practice. Here are some quick answers (that do not constitute legal advice) to some of the recent questions we have received on this topic:
Advocates and other social service providers who have been in the field for any length of time are all too familiar with the revolving door syndrome. That is, we witness the system-wide oppression of a small but growing percentage of people seeking our services who are revolving through the social service system over and over again, going from one agency to the next, sometimes for years. They experience multiple barriers, multiple forms of abuse (including provider prejudice) and are often…
There is a great deal of information related to the responsibility of colleges and universities to protect students and address sexual violence on campus. This information can be overwhelming to advocates and survivors alike. As advocates, our role is to focus on empowerment and choice with survivors and to know where to find information and resources related to campus systems, rather than memorizing the depth of federal law and policy.
Like…
This 20 minute DVD was produced with the assistance of Safe Horizon, addresses the need for the victim services field to work in partnership with those who provide services to immigrants and with other allied practitioners
Are you an inmate calling from a Washington prison, jail, or work release program or calling on behalf of an inmate?
In Washington State, there is a Sexual Assault Support and Information Line that is operated by an independent agency outside of the Department of Corrections.
…Sexual violence is an endemic social problem in the U.S. The victim blaming attitudes of the civilian world often spill into military service, and those attitudes carry over into tours of duty. While the military has been in the spotlight for failing to support victims and respond to and prevent sexual assault, civilian criminal justice systems regularly and systematically fail victims too, and leaders in all forms of institutions fall short of adequately understanding and addressing the…
Curriculum designed to help the prevention of dating violence.
According to the Washington State Department of Health (2010),
When a woman has undergone sexual assault, intimate partner violence, or stalking, it may have a profound…
Service providers generally view sexual assault victims in rural areas as an underserved population, mostly because of a well-recognized, low rate of reporting and because of the often dispersed nature of services. Rural populations are often marginalized from mainstream power structures, which hold more opportunities for assistance, services, and resources.
Barriers for survivors in rural areas include:
A question often posed to us is, "how much do I try to get a child to talk about their sexual abuse?"
We are all operating under the mandate of "do no harm." When working with a child who is not spontaneously engaging in trauma exposure, how do we know when trauma exposure is indicated and how do we go about engaging the child? What about the possibility we may further traumatize, further ingrain trauma responses, or create new trauma pathways? What about colluding with trauma…
With increased media attention, issues of family violence have been steadily moving out of the shadows and into the arenas of research, prevention, intervention, and public awareness. However, sibling abuse largely unrecognized and unaddressed remains behind the closed doors of "family privacy." Often excused by parents as "kids will be kids" behavior, the symptoms of this form of abuse go undetected and its devastating effects on the victim are ignored. Sibling Abuse, Second Edition…
Over the last few years The White House has taken actions to call attention to the scope of campus sexual violence, provide guidance to schools on how to effectively respond when violence has occurred, improve Title IX enforcement, and prevent campus sexual assault.
The White House and partners have used many avenues such as launching a resource website and large-scale public awareness campaigns to start the conversation in communities. Additionally, The White House worked with the…
Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and youth, commonly known as sex trafficking, is a type of sexual violence that occurs when minors are forced, tricked or coerced into sexual activity for commercial exchange. Commercial exchange could include payment in the form of money, or anything of value to the youth (food, drugs, clothes, a place to sleep, social acceptance). Commercial sexual exploitation affects youth of all genders, sexual orientations, economic classes, races, and…
This program, created by Jewish Women International, explores issues
of:
within a Jewish context.
According to a wave of recent new reports and high-profile books, "hookup" culture is in the process of replacing traditional dating on college campuses — radically altering how young people think about intimacy and sex, and liberating young women from patriarchal rituals and norms. But for anyone looking to get a handle on these allegedly transformative changes, there's been little beyond speculation and anecdotal evidence. This presentation by Stanford University's Paula England, a leading…
Intimate Partner Sexual Violence (IPSV) can be defined as any unwanted sexual contact or activity by an intimate partner with the purpose of controlling an individual through fear, threats or violence. It can affect anyone from teens to elders.
Doin' it: Sex, Disability & Videotape 35 minutes, open captioned
Interviewing in law enforcement 0079 (Trainers Guide) Digital, PDF file
Faith-Based Responses to Crime Victims This 30-minute DVD (NCJ 216616) provides the faith community and the victim services field with examples of successful partnerships that are making a difference in victims’ lives throughout
