This Online Training Institute (OLTI) provides the opportunity for interested professionals to expand their knowledge of cutting edge developments in the criminal justice and community response to sexual assault, with particular emphasis on those crimes committed against an adult or adolescent by someone who is known to the victim (i.e., a non-stranger).  The OLTI is primarily focused on the techniques for successful law enforcement investigation of non-stranger sexual assault. Yet training modules also address a broader range of content that is relevant to the criminal justice and coordinated community response to sexual assault.  Although this OLTI does not focus on sexual assault cases involving child victims or victims of incest, much of the content will be relevant for those types of investigations as well.  Throughout the training modules, we have incorporated recommendations for cases that are seen by many professionals as particularly challenging, including those involving victims with disabilities and other specific populations (e.g., victims from minority or immigrant communities). 

Participants in the OLTI can work through the various training modules to learn and review new information and then apply this newly acquired knowledge in realistic and interactive scenarios, as well as assessment methods such as quizzes, tests, and case studies.

While the training is particularly relevant for law enforcement professionals and prosecutors, it is equally critical for other professionals who are involved in the criminal justice and community response to sexual assault victims.  This would include professionals from the fields of:  victim advocacy, victim-witness assistance, forensic medicine, health care, mental health, victim services, social services, probation/parole, the defense bar, the judiciary, the military, research, and higher education. 

While the content of the Online Training Institute is primarily focused on the techniques for successful law enforcement investigation and prosecution, this information is targeted not only toward law enforcement professionals and prosecutors but also for cross-training purposes with these other professions.  For example, victim advocates will benefit by increasing their knowledge of the criminal justice system, so they can provide more effective services for their clients.  Forensic examiners will gain by better understanding how the information and evidence they collect may impact the investigation and prosecution of sexual assaults reported by their patients.

OLTI training content is created and updated with input from professionals in a variety of disciplines, including law enforcement, prosecution, health care, victim advocacy, and related fields. Please see the acknowledgments page of each module, for a list of the individuals who served as contributing authors or expert reviewers.

The OLTI was created and continues to be supported with funding from the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. However, the opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

The OLTI primary instructors are Joanne Archambault and Kim Lonsway. You may access their CV by clicking on their name.

The Online Training Institute is primarily focused on the techniques for successful investigation and prosecution of non-stranger sexual assault. Yet training modules also address a broader range of content that is relevant to the criminal justice and coordinated community response to sexual assault.

No, you do not have to complete the training modules in any specified order. However, the training modules are designed to build on the content included in previous modules, so we would encourage you to complete them in the listed order whenever possible.

Each of the training modules is designed to be completed at your own pace.

Fortunately, you can take breaks whenever you like — for as long as you want. In other words, the OLTI has been designed to be as flexible as possible, to allow busy professionals to pick away at continuing education by fitting the training content into their own schedule, as suited to their own needs. Each time you work on a training module, you will proceed through the content and the opportunities for practice, review, and assessment. If you decide to take a break and return at another time, the program will not only remember where you were when you left off, but it will also store the information from your previous responses to review questions and practice exercises. The only exception to this process is that once you begin an end-of-course test, you will be unable to leave the program until you have completed the test. If you do leave the program, you will have to begin the test again when you return to the training module.

For those of you who learn best by reading the training content on paper rather than online, you will also have the option of printing out a PDF version of any module. That way, you can review the information from a location away from your computer. However, you will still be required to work through the online module in order to complete the review questions, practice exercises, and end-of-course test. You will be able to print out the PDF version of the training module at any time before, during, or after completing the course.

When you’re ready to begin a course, you will proceed through the screens, by reading the content and participating in the interactive exercises and opportunities for practice, review, and assessment. At the end of each training module, you will then be presented with a final end-of-course test. To successfully complete the training module, you must pass this end-of-course test by correctly answering at least 70% of the questions. If you do not meet this minimum standard for successful performance, you will have the opportunity to review the course content and retake the test.

Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) are available for some professionals. Nurse Contact hours can now be purchased per module through the OLTI and may be redeemed for up to 6 months from the date of module completion.

Professionals in other fields may be able to earn continuing education credits by submitting a printout of the training module and the personalized certificate of completion to the organization that awards such credits. A PDF version of each training module is available to you after enrollment in the course, and a computer-generated certificate is available after successfully completing each training module. In addition, you can download a document with course information, including outlines and evaluations, as well as an estimated time of completion.

It is worth noting that the modules in the OLTI are designed primarily for professionals involved in the criminal justice and community response to sexual assault. As a result, the training content addresses sensitive and sometimes difficult subject matter that may not be appropriate for untrained individuals. We are mindful that some individuals, particularly those who are survivors of abuse, may be more vulnerable to being traumatized by this training content than others. Anyone who is having personal difficulty with the subject matter is encouraged to contact a support person such as a friend, family member, counselor, or a local rape crisis center. To locate your nearest rape crisis center, please contact the coalition in your state or territory at: www.nsvrc.org.

Yes, you are welcome to disseminate copies of the OLTI modules in PDF format. In fact, we encourage it. By sharing OLTI training modules with co-workers and other colleagues, we can all work together toward the goal of improving the criminal justice and community responses to sexual assault.

Yes, you can incorporate information from the OLTI into your own training materials or other resources, as long as they are cited appropriately. There are three primary ways to do this.

(1) If you cite a general idea from the OLTI, you should use in-text citation with the author name(s) and year (e.g., Littell, Lonsway, & Archambault, 2012). Then the full reference will need to be included in a footnote/endnote or reference list at the end of the document. For this type of citation, you need to make sure the idea is stated in your own words.

(2) If you quote information verbatim, it needs to appear in quotation marks with a page number (e.g., Archambault & Lonsway, 2012, p. 14). Again, the full reference will need to appear in the footnote/endnote or reference list at the end of the document.

(3) If you excerpt a section of material from the OLTI, you will need to be very clear about where the excerpt begins and ends, and then provide the full reference information in a footnote/endnote or reference list at the end of the document.

A sample reference might look something like this (depending on which reference format you use):

Archambault, J. & Lonsway, K.A. (February 2006; updated May 2012). Interviewing the Victim: Interviewing Techniques Based on the Realistic Dynamics of Sexual Assault. Online Training Institute module developed by End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI). Available at www.evawintl.org/olti.