The Washington State Patrol implemented Second Substitute House Bill 2530 (2016 Legislative Session), which created Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 43.43.545, the statewide sexual assault kit tracking system. The tracking system provides sexual assault survivors with the ability to anonymously track the location and status of their Sexual Assault Kit (SAK) from the point of collection through forensic analysis to final storage location and possible destruction.
In this one hour…
During the 2019 legislative session, legislation specific to the work of child sexual assault multi-disciplinary teams, or MDTs, was included. House Bill 5465: a law to direct multi-disciplinary teams to develop and implement protocols for online and commercial sexual exploitation was successfully passed. Included in this law is language clarification regarding information sharing between MDT…
As managers of Community Sexual Assault Programs (CSAPs) you are aware of the Office of Crime Victims Advocacy accreditation standard (#AC1) that requires: “The agency ensures the cultural competency of its service delivery.”
This standard describes cultural competency as: “the ability of the organization to recognize and respect diverse cultural factors, and the effects of these factors on various communities’ need for and access to its services.”
Something unique to this…
2019 proved to be one of the most successful policy years on record for sexual assault issues in our great state!
WCSAP had a robust legislative agenda and worked diligently to push forward key policies that would strengthen responses to sexual violence and advance the rights of survivors.
We actively advocated for rape kit reform, the repair of a problematic supreme court ruling about sexual assault protection orders, eliminating/modifying the statute of limitations on sex…
Within our non-profit world there is an underlying burden that we place on our teams as it relates to navigating financial controls in work-related spaces. Our structures almost always emulate, favor and support the structures and professionalism of white supremacy. This is severely problematic in that it does not encompass and champion everyone through an anti-oppressive lens. As a result the following issues often remain unchecked when financial operations are left solely to one individual…
The Adverse Childhood Experiences study (ACEs) is a longitudinal study; a research method in which the data was gathered about ACEs over a long period of time. This study also serves as an ongoing tool for measuring the relationship between early life trauma and later life health and wellbeing. This Advocacy Station explores the survey and research findings of the original Kaiser-CDC study.
We will also examine the ways in which the study has been useful to our understanding of early…
WCSAP was contacted by a survivor who has been working with attorneys, advocates, and academics to raise awareness and bring an end to a traumatic practice referred to as ‘court-ordered rape,’ or invasive gynecological exams that survivors of sexual assault are ordered to endure in the course of proceedings against their perpetrators.
Commercial sexual exploitation of children, or human trafficking, is when a commercial sex act is exchanged for something of value with a minor, and/or when force, fraud, or coercion are present. The legal and cultural language around what we refer to as “commercial sexual exploitation” has evolved over time. We’ve shifted the use of our language to match our current understanding of the power dynamics, legalities, and the lived experience of young people that…
It's well understood that evaluation is a necessary component of sexual violence prevention - most curricula includes materials such as post-tests and surveys so that facilitators can gauge its effectiveness. These tools are often focused on outcomes, or in other words, they measure the impact of the entire program after it is finished. Another way of evaluating involves analyzing the effectiveness of the process. For example, if someone's goal is to run a…
