Category: Sexual Assault

EVAWI’s Kris Rose and Kim Day from IAFN will be hosting a webinar, Thinking Outside the Kit: Transportation Options for Improving Access to Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Exams. The session will be held March 7th at 1pm ET. From the announcement:

Survivors of sexual assault face numerous hurdles in the aftermath of the crime, not the least of which is ensuring they can access a medical-forensic exam conducted by a trained medical professional. These trained professionals, often referred to as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE), Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners (SAFE), or Forensic Nurses (FN) ensure that victims’ injuries are treated, prophylaxis against infection and pregnancy are administered, and forensic evidence is expertly collected. Using a trauma-informed approach, SANEs treat victims with respect and dignity, while honoring their choices throughout the process. Research indicates that when victims receive services from a SANE, they are more likely to seek help (e.g., counseling, therapy) and participate in the criminal justice process.

But what happens if the victim doesn’t have transportation to the post assault healthcare services they need? What if the crime occurs in a rural area and the only clinic with trained SANEs is located hours away from where the assault occurred? What if the only transportation available is the bus or taxi, but the victim can’t afford to pay the fares? What if the victim lives in a rural community where there are no buses or taxis? Affordable, safe, discrete, and reliable transportation is key to ensuring that victims of sexual assault have access to medical-forensic exams

Register here.

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Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

Here’s a topic rarely discussed in webinars: DNA Evidence in Groping Sexual Assault Cases. The always excellent Dr. Julie Valentine will be presenting the session on February 27th at 2pm ET. From the announcement:

Improving the overall response to sexual assault includes understanding how touch DNA evidence impacts groping sexual assault cases. This webinar will illustrate the importance of these cases and highlight proposed guidelines for evidence collection.

Detailed Learning Objectives:

1. Describe background information on touch DNA in sexual assault cases and factors that influence epithelial cell deposition.

2. Explain evidence collection practice implications from groper case study and research findings.

3. Identify possible suggestions and opportunities to expand evidence collection in groping sexual assault cases in their jurisdictions.

Register for the webinar here.

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Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

For our final post of the week, a webinar from the SAKI TA project— Understanding Case Connectivity: How Testing Sexual Assault Kits Can Link Criminal Cases. The webinar (which will be archived, so don’t sweat the short notice) will be held on November 28th at 2pm ET. From the website:

This webinar will explain the potential utility of case connectivity and discuss how case connectivity can be established through Sexual Assault Kit DNA testing. The webinar will also provide step-by-step guidance on how to organize and analyze the data needed to establish case connectivity. Participants will have ample time after the webinar to ask questions of the presenters.

Presenters:

Dr. Rebecca Campbell is a Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University. She holds a Ph.D. in community psychology with a concentration in statistics, also from Michigan State University. For the past 25 years, she has been conducting community-based research on violence against women and children, with an emphasis on sexual assault.

Rachael Goodman-Williams holds a master’s degree in community psychology and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in community psychology from Michigan State University. Her work broadly focuses on violence against women, with a specialization in quantitative methods and evaluation science.

Register for the session here.

Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

Perhaps you’ve already listened to the Unladylike podcast featuring Trisha Sheridan’s interview on the episode, How to Get a Rape Kit. If not, you should. Overall, I found it to be pretty delightful to listen to, not just because of Trisha’s centering of the health and well-being of patients over the kit itself, but also because of the excellent interview questions and points made by Cristen and Caroline, the hosts of Unladylike. While there were a few (minor) things I didn’t necessarily agree with, it was just so damn refreshing to hear this healthcare focused explanation of the work we do, I was cheering in my office. The dog was frankly concerned.

Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

UPDATED: The Center for Investigative Reporting’s podcast, Reveal, has a recent episode on sexual assault investigations and exceptional clearance: Case Cleared (Part 1). I present it here without comment.

This is lengthy, but a worthwhile use of time. I look forward to listening to the follow-up episode(s). The next one will focus on prosecution. I’ll update this post with the next episode once it’s live.

As promised, here is the follow-on, which addresses prosecution:

Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

OVC is hosting an Expert Q&A session, Effective Telenursing Response to Sexual Assault. It will be held live on November 14th from 2-3pm, but will be posted on their website afterward for review. Susan Chasson, M.S.N., J.D., SANE–A, and Dr. Sheridan Miyamoto will be the featured presenters. From the website:

In this session targeted toward Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, participants will learn about some of the advantages to telenursing, as well as some of the potential obstacles, such as cross‐state licensure, credentialing for nurses responding to a hospital where they are not employees, provision of medications, and maintenance of medical records. Collaboration with hospital medical and nursing staff is key to an effective telenursing response.

Register here.

Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

Forensic Technology Center of Excellence has an upcoming webinar: Advancing Research Initiatives and Combatting the Human Trafficking Epidemic. The session will be held on November 1st at 1pm ET. From the website:

Trafficking in persons is a multi-faceted global epidemic which has seen a significant increase in public awareness. However, there is a substantial need to expand capacities and technologies involving representatives from all stakeholders.

During this webinar, recommendations will be discussed addressing general policies and priorities, a need to better protect refugees, immigrants, and other at-risk populations, labor trafficking, and sexual exploitation. With many of these recommendations, key players involved with related research or program activities will be highlighted. In other areas, the recommendations identify the substantial lack of research and activities and are intended as a clarion call for action in a specific identified area associated with human trafficking. A core recommendation to any and all engaged in this work is to maintain a victim-centered approach. 

Register here.

Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

The SAKI project has a webinar coming up, Victim Notification: Safety and Privacy Planning. It’s an issue we probably don’t give enough consideration, so although it leans a bit more advocacy, I think it’s a great one for any member of a SART. The session will be held October 23rd at 2pm ET. They archive their sessions, so it will be available online if you cannot attend the live event. From the website:

Safety and privacy planning has been recognized as a strong consideration for cold case sexual assault victim notifications in the sexual assault response process. Two presenters from the Salt Lake City, Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenal Justice will address why safety and privacy planning is an important consideration for sexual assault survivors. Additionally, the presenters from this SAKI site will speak to strategies for implementing this concept, including, but not limited to, physical safety, emotional safety, privacy planning, court privacy, confidentiality, and civil orders of protection.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be better able to:

1. Identify and define the need for Safety and Privacy Planning.

2. Discern the difference between Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence victim needs.

3. Gain an understanding of physical safety, emotional safety, privacy planning, court privacy, confidentially, and civil orders of protection.

Register here.

Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

There’s no way to ignore the amount of rage that women are feeling at this pivotal time in US history. So I was really pleased to hear 3 authors I admire tremendously featured on 1A this morning (all of whom have books out now that happen to be on my current reading list). Rebecca Traister (who was here in DC last night), Soraya Chemaly and Brittney Cooper are brilliant, inciteful, and well worth listening to. And trust me–this isn’t just about politics in this country. This is about the very work that we do, the place in which we are doing that work, and the institutional structures that allow that work to happen (or make it harder for patients to access the care we provide). Take the time to listen.

Oh, and as a bonus? This excellent Katha Pollitt essay in The Nation referencing all three of these feminist giants…

Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.