Please review these organizations' websites and inform yourself about their specific services, to ensure that the referrals you provide to survivors are appropriate. If a survivor you are working with has a legal need that cannot be addressed by these organizations, please contact WCSAP for technical assistance and to connect with other legal service providers and technical assistance providers.
Washington State law includes sex offenses and other related crimes, as well as benefits and protections for victims. The following list is adapted from the Sexual Violence Law Center:
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.
A sexual assault protection order is a civil order issued by the court on behalf of a sexual assault victim. The order can require the alleged perpetrator to stay away from the victim or place(s) where the victim lives or works and to have no further contact with the victim.
Any person 16 or older who is a victim of sexual assault - including a single incident - may petition the court to obtain the order. Victims under…
In Washington State, sexual assault crime victims have certain rights. These are enumerated in the handout which can be downloaded and provided to survivors.
The criminal justice system is not the only way for survivors of sexual assault to get their legal needs met. Because most victims never report to the police, most sexual assault victims are never involved in the criminal justice system. However, survivors may still have many legal needs that arise from being sexually assaulted.
Some issues that survivors may be concerned about, but do not necessarily think of as legal issues, are things such as:
The criminal legal system is designed to punish the wrongdoer. This is a process that involves multiple steps that can take up to a year or more to complete.
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 this discussion guide, we examine the Netflix limited series “Unbelievable.” We hope this guide can assist programs in facilitating conversations about the experience of sexual assault survivors interacting with the criminal justice systems and the aftermath of sexual trauma.
Interviewing in law enforcement 0079 (Trainers Guide) Digital, PDF file
