This 1.5-hour training is an introduction to working with child victims (12 and under) who have an intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) and their non-offending parents/guardians. The training will be valuable to service providers who want to expand their knowledge about this unique and pervasive disability and develop skills in working with this underserved population. The training will include the following information:
In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention included Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation. These findings are the first of their kind, and they have opened the door for advocates and agencies to have more conversations regarding the needs of their respective communities.
The purpose of this review is to show how advocates can utilize these findings and make services more accessible. We focus particularly on the Bisexual population.
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Sometimes a video is worth a thousand words! Some of these videos are intended to demonstrate techniques for therapists, and some can be shown directly to child clients. If you like a particular video, do a search to see if it is part of a series by the same person or group, as several of these are. The duration of the video is in parentheses after the name.
In our work to end sexual violence, sometimes best practices in prevention and what communities want to hear about (i.e. awareness and education) are not the same thing. Large school assemblies and tips for staying safe at parties are often welcomed by our communities — these make them feel safe and don't ask too much of them. With limited resources to do our prevention work, it is important that we are able to distinguish between primary prevention and awareness or risk reduction activities...
Even though we work in the anti-violence field, we sometimes overlook the need for workplace violence prevention and intervention plans for our own programs. While agencies may be well aware of the risk of violence from an abuser who is connected to a client, we may not consider the possibility of employee-to-employee violence, risk from someone who is stalking or abusing a staff member, or threats from a worker whose employment is being terminated.
Managers could use the following...
Without My Consent, a nonprofit organization that seeks to combat online invasion of privacy and empower individuals to stand up for their privacy rights, recently released the findings of its survey about online harassment. Although this survey focused on online harassment in general, a large focus of the organization's work is nonconsensual pornography, sometimes referred to as "revenge porn."
Without My Consent's definition of this...
This training is geared towards individuals and organizations that see the need to take a bold move to improve the way our Movement provides services to survivors of color while also supporting advocates of color. Sexual violence is greatly impacted and made more complex by all other forms of oppression, but issues of racism have long been swept under the rug within our Movement. Many organizations promote anti-oppression work but aren't able to describe or demonstrate how they are...
A particularly successful method of working with survivors of sexual assault and trauma is by bringing survivors together in groups. Groups are an effective tool in providing support, validation, connection, healing, empathy, and giving hope. At the core of all sexual assault is disempowerment and disconnection. To assist in recovery, empowerment and connection is key.
It is amazing to witness the transformation that many survivors make because of these groups — because they realize...
WCSAP prioritized gathering information about sexual assault legal advocacy practices because we have heard from advocates that sexual assault survivors face many challenges within the legal system. This means that legal advocacy is also challenging and that advocates need support for their work in this system.
Keane, Guest, & Padbury (2013) explored issues of sibling sexual abuse in their recent article. According to the authors, there must be a balance of concern for victims of sibling sexual abuse, as well as those who offend. They rejected the feminist framework that prioritizes victim rights (specifically in the instance of youth offending) in order to look at it from a developmental framework.
Adult theories of offending are located in research that suggests the...
Community sexual assault programs may receive inquiries from parents, caregivers, and professionals about how to understand and respond to children's sexual behaviors. It may be helpful to think about children's sexual behaviors as existing on a continuum — some sexual behaviors are healthy and normal, some are problematic, and others may become abusive. The resources below can help parents and professionals identify which behaviors are developmentally appropriate, which behaviors may be...
In this webinar, participants will learn how to boost and sustain their prevention work by connecting and integrating with existing sexual health education efforts. Violence preventionists can make the most of current national research, the Washington Healthy Youth Act, and Washington Department of Health Guidelines. We will discuss best practices related to STD and teen pregnancy prevention and sexual violence prevention. Preventionists will leave this webinar being able to make the case...
These flags give youth and adults the opportunity to start conversations about consent!
This interactive tool allows people to think about the spectrum of verbal and non-verbal ways consent and non-consent is communicated. Additionally, this activity goes beyond just defining consent and asks participants to apply the concept of complex consent. This process makes them put consent in their own words and terms which in turn makes it more likely to be realistic and therefore applied in...
How do you craft a psychoeducational support group for teen survivors of sexual abuse and assault that addresses their unique needs and acknowledges the effects of sexual violence in their lives? What practical steps do you need to take in forming and facilitating these support groups to keep them securely anchored in the values of our field? This webinar focuses on facilitator-tested steps to use empowerment-based advocacy principles, an anti-oppression framework, and trauma-informed...
An unpublished report based on a Department of Justice study titled "Preventing Revictimization in Teen Dating Relationships" has just been released, and contains some thought-provoking results. The study was conducted under the direction of Dr. Anne P. DePrince of the Traumatic Stress Studies Group of the University of Denver. Briefly, they conducted research with high-risk adolescent girls involved in the child welfare system, with the goal of preventing revictimization. They tested two...
The Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs (WCSAP) recently had the privilege of working with the Washington State Supreme Court Gender and Justice Commission, judicial officers, and the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC) to develop the first edition of the "Sexual Offense Bench Guide for Judges."
The purpose of a bench guide is to educate judicial officers (judges or commissioners) who decide particular types of cases about the law, and also about the...
Are you aware that the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) requires you to have either a
depending on the number of employees you have? WAC 296-800-130 clearly identifies this requirement.
If you have 11 or more employees on the same shift in the same location, you must establish a safety committee, which consists of representatives elected by employees as...
We've spent a lot of time figuring out what the spectrum of sexual violence looks like, but do we have concrete ideas about what the alternative is? Healthy sexuality is a complex and nuanced subject area that allows us to explore the positive, healthy, fulfilling, and violence-free expressions of sexuality.
Infusing healthy sexuality messaging into your work will likely require preparation. Do you know why healthy sexuality is an integral part of our prevention work? How can you...
Terminating an employee is usually at the top of a manager's "Things I Hate to Do" list. Many sexual assault programs have a "family" feel to them, and it's tough to come to a parting of the ways within a close-knit organization. Nonetheless, no one benefits when you continue to hold onto an employee who is not fulfilling job requirements, who is too burned-out to function, or whose toxic attitude is damaging the organization as a whole. When the time comes to say goodbye, there are some...
We know that young people are digital natives — they have grown up in a world where technology is incorporated into their lives. So what does this mean for prevention work? In this webinar we will highlight research dealing with youth and technology, examine some common statistics regarding youth safety online, and present various methods of incorporating digital safety into primary prevention work.
Posters campaigns can be a great way to raise awareness and when used in conjunction with other activities may be part of a more comprehensive prevention project. Here are some examples of poster campaigns that are either pro-active about stopping sexual & dating violence or promote positive messaging and environments.
Like suicidality, talking about self-harm directly with young people who have been engaged in this coping mechanism can be hard. However, because such a vital part of our work as advocates is to discuss coping strategies and help survivors discover what mechanisms work best for them, discussions that involve self-injury, self-medication, eating disorders, engaging in risky sex, and other self-harming behaviors are integral.
Advocates are often the only people in a survivor’s life...
Based on data from the first-of-its-kind national survey, this report reveals devastating statistics about the frequency of blatant discrimination and outright violence against transgender people in schools, the workplace, healthcare, the criminal justice system, and social services.
The report also paints a picture of the incredible resiliency and strength of individuals, their families, and the community. Despite pervasive and repeated bias, discrimination, and violence, survey...
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 information about the nature of psychoeducational groups and how they differ from self-help and therapy groups. In addition, there is general...
