Tips & Guides

As a Community Sexual Assault Program manager, you are subject to a formal evaluation process by your supervisor, whether that is the Board, an Executive Director (if you do not also fill that role), or someone else. However, most of us really want to know how we are doing at our jobs — and for managers, that means getting feedback from those who are supervised as well as those who supervise us. How do you get feedback from your staff in an appropriate manner without having them feel like…

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:

• …

This Guide is a supplement to the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs' (WCSAP) general guide to psychoeducational support groups, Circle of Hope. Circle of Hope provides excellent information about the nature of psychoeducational groups and how they differ from self-help and therapy groups. In addition, there is information about how to select participants, work with a co-facilitator, establish a curriculum, handle the inevitable concerns that arise in the course of running…

The Circle of Hope "Latin@ Support Group Guide" is intended to provide a basic outline for support group facilitators that are seeking to establish or enhance sexual assault support groups for adult Latin@ survivors in Washington State.

Recognizing the expertise current facilitators have working with Latin@ survivors and also acknowledging the need for new facilitators to obtain a basic foundation to build upon, this guide provides generalized guidelines for structuring, marketing,…

No matter what your formal position, you can be a leader in advocating for services to address Intimate Partner Sexual Violence (IPSV). Often, it takes just one dedicated individual to initiate these much-needed services.

Do your homework

Even if you are a very experienced advocate, it is crucial to educate yourself thoroughly on Intimate Partner Sexual Violence. Two great starting places: the book…

There's a lot of prevention work happening all over the place. There's lots of ways to get "plugged in" to find out what is being done out there.

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I suggest a couple generic phrases like "sexual violence prevention" and "sexual assault…

Conversations about how to integrate support for advocates that mitigates vicarious trauma have become common within our organizations, but the need to put these conversations into practice is greater than ever. While widespread coverage about the prevalence of sexual violence has gained traction with the #MeToo movement, resources for organizations haven’t seen much of an increase to meet the need. This requires managers and executive directors to find creative, low-cost ways to support…

This brochure is an easy reference to the basics of mandated reporting for Sexual Assault Advocates.

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:

Q:

Do I need to report sexual abuse of a minor that is not committed by a parent or caregiver? What…

For many of us music can have an important and influential role in our lives. It's more than just a means of enjoyment though, it can also be a platform for communicating social norms. That's why a lot of prevention efforts include media literacy skills. As preventionists, one of our biggest roles is to facilitate meaningful conversations that will help lead communities towards prevention that is personal and more likely to be effective. Therefore before diving right into the fun of…