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Challenging Victims: The Delicate Dynamics of Drug & Alcohol Facilitated Sexual Assault

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Duration
90 Minutes

Originally Aired
September 22, 2017

Herbert Tanner
Herbert Tanner, Jr.
JD, Trainer / Consultant, HR Tanner Consulting LLC,
Wendy Patrick
Wendy Patrick
JD, PhD, Deputy District Attorney, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office

Sexual assault, especially non-stranger assaults in alcohol and drug-fueled settings often involve some of the most difficult and delicate case dynamics when it comes to working with victims and witnesses. Successful collaboration between investigators, victim witness advocates, and prosecutors is essential to gaining victim trust, and maintaining victim cooperation throughout the length of the case.

This presentation will detail best practices involved in making initial victim contact, collaboration between prosecutors and investigators, interviewing victims prior to the charging decision, requesting additional follow-up by investigators, and using expert witnesses to explain victim-perpetrator dynamics in sexual assault cases.

The presenters will also discuss how alcohol can affect the way a victim behaves during and after the assault, can impair memory, and the challenges often inherent in victim statements, including inconsistencies, omissions, and untruths. They will describe strategies for increasing the accuracy of a victim’s statement-which is often a significant issue when the sexual assault was preceded by a night of overindulgence by both the victim and perpetrator.

Objectives

As a result of this session, participants will be better able to:

  • Tailor an approach to initial victim contact designed to build trust and maximize information gathering.
  • Maintain a working relationship of trust and transparency with victims in order to facilitate cooperation throughout the life cycle of a case.
  • Identify areas in each case where expert testimony would assist the trier of fact.
  • Identify the effect of alcohol on behavior and memory, identify the dose-dependent nature of impairment due to drinking, and identify at least two legal drugs that can increase the impact of alcohol consumption.

This project is supported by Grant No. 2015-TA-AX-K015 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

With a paid registration or subscription, you are free to personally listen to this webinar, as many times as you wish. You may also excerpt or cite the material following accepted conventions. However, you may not allow other individuals to listen to this webinar without their own registration or subscription.

This content is for Monthly Webinar Subscription, Annual Webinar Subscription, Lifetime Webinar Subscription, Bronze Agency Webinar Subscription (1-10 users), Silver Agency Webinar Subscription (11-25 users), Gold Agency Webinar Subscription (26-50 users), Platinum Agency Webinar Subscription (51-500 users), Webinar: Neurobiology of Sexual Assault – Part 2: Experience and Memory, Webinar: Challenging Victims: The Delicate Dynamics of Drug & Alcohol Facilitated Sexual Assault, Webinar: Alternative Responses to Intimate Partner Prosecution: From Diversion to High Lethality, Webinar: Start by Believing: The Johnnetta McSwain Story: “Why Did Nobody Believe Us, Why, Why?”, Webinar: Understanding and Responding to Hate Against AAPI Communities, Lifetime Access – Violence Against Women and Exploitation by Illegal Street Gangs, Lifetime Access – Talking To Killers and Non-Lethal Abusers: What Can They Tell Us About Sexual Coercion and Jealousy, Lifetime Access – Getting It Right: Medical and Law Enforcement Responses to Trans Patients/Survivors , Lifetime Access – Innovation Meets Practice: How to Integrate Seek Then Speak into Your Local Sexual Assault Response, Caring for Deaf survivors: How can we do better?, Lifetime Access – “Nose Rings and Ankle Holsters” – A Discussion on Advocates and Cops, Lifetime Access – Preparing a Survivor to Testify: Beyond Sips of Water and Fidget Toys, Lifetime Access – Meeting Patients/Survivors Where They Are: Trauma-Informed Responses to Mental Health Effects, Webinar: Preventing Domestic Violence-Related Fatalities and Murder-Suicides: Turning Data Into Action, Webinar: Stop Fumbling the Victim Interview: Tools You Can Use Tomorrow, Webinar: Hey Siri, How Do You Increase Accountability & Safety in Stalking Cases?, Webinar: Seek Then Speak: A Simple Tool to Increase Survivors’ Access to Reporting and Services, Webinar: American Nightmare: Lessons from the Detective Who Got It Right, Webinar: Caring for Native Survivors: Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Exams, Webinar: Keep Calm and Testify On: A Practical Guide for Giving Expert Testimony , Webinar: Understanding and Confronting Vicarious Trauma, Webinar: Prepare for Court with the SAMFE Virtual Practicum, Webinar: Overcoming “Credibility Challenges” in Sexual Violence Investigations , Webinar: On the Record: Justice, Survivors, and the Media , Webinar: A Blueprint for Statewide Adoption of the Seek Then Speak Reporting Tool , Webinar: Something’s Missing in Our Response to Sexual Assault: Offender-Focused Investigations, Webinar: When Language Matters: A Strangulation Case Review of a Victim with Limited English Proficiency, Webinar: Culturally Responsive Care for Black Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence, and Webinar: What Effective Campus Sexual Assault Response Looks Like members only.
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