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:
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…
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.
This program, created by Jewish Women International, explores issues
of:
within a Jewish context.
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.
…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…
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…
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…
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…
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:
