The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force: Transforming Texas’ Response to Sexual Violence
This presentation will highlight the outcomes of a bipartisan legislation designed to improve Texas’ response to sexual assault, culminating in the creation and implementation of a statewide Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force (SASTF) in Texas in 2019. This was a pivotal moment for sexual assault survivors in Texas, a state that has witnessed the passage of key legislation prioritizing survivors’ needs. This legislation includes newly mandated requirements for increased system accountability and transparency; the collection of multiple data sets illuminating critical aspects of how the system is functioning; and the creation of a statewide task force that includes survivors along with some of Texas’ foremost experts and practitioners in the field of sexual assault.
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Where Science Compliments Justice: Forensic Nurses at Trial
Forensic nurses must be prepared to interact competently and knowledgeably with the legal system, and testify in courts of law, typically as experts, regarding their examinations and findings. Prosecutors utilizing such expertise must understand the role of the forensic nurse and how best to elicit an expert opinion on the witness stand. This workshop will address preparation and interaction from both perspectives (prosecutor and forensic nurse), proper interaction with adverse attorneys, how to develop and prepare compelling testimony, and tips for testifying.
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Stalking: Slow Motion Homicide
Anna highlights the positive and lifesaving work of these individuals through-out her case study and gives concrete examples for all victim service providers when working with victims of stalking or other crimes. She educates on the importance of victim-centered responses for all victims of stalking and shares the success and outcome of these practices in her case and life.
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Sexually Assaulted, Disbelieved, Prosecuted and Acquitted: Lessons from Virginia
Imagine that someone in your community is sexually assaulted and tells the police. Initially the investigator appears to take them seriously, but the case stalls. The victim interview turns into an interrogation, and police pressure the victim to retract their allegations. Desperate to end this ordeal, the victim recants. But to their surprise, the investigator and prosecutor use the recantation to charge them with false reporting.
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What You Focus On Grows: Stop Justifying Victims’ Behavior and Focus on Offenders’ Predatory Conduct
All too often investigators and prosecutors seek to justify a victim’s behavior, instead of focusing on the offender’s conduct. This session re-imagines offender focused investigations in a meaningful way and gives participants concrete ideas to create system changes within their own community. In this session, Dr. David Lisak, who has spent his career interviewing ‘undetected rapists’ will highlight some of his findings and help participants better understand the predatory nature of sexual violence.
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When Victims of Crime Become Defendants: Should Context Matter?
What does justice look like when a victim of a crime becomes a defendant? This session will inspire every kind of professional to consider context in their response in these cases. Incarcerated women experience staggering rates of sexual assault and domestic violence across the life span leading up to the offenses for which they are charged or convicted.
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Survivors Justice Project: A Radical Collaboration to Decarcerate Survivors of Domestic Violence
The Survivors Justice Project (SJP) is a collective of survivors of domestic violence, currently and formerly incarcerated women, activists, lawyers, and students working for the decarceration of domestic violence survivors through the implementation of the New York State Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA).
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DNA and Sexual Assault Kits: A Great Forensic Tool
When sexual assault victims/survivors consent to a forensic sexual assault examination, they fully expect that the completed Sexual Assault Kit (SAK) will be submitted by law enforcement to a crime lab to be tested. Sadly, that is not always the case.
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“Our Response Just Wasn’t Good Enough:” Overhauling our Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Assault
In 2016, we knew there was something missing in the criminal justice response to sexual assault victims in Ramsey County, Minnesota. We were polite in our interactions with victims and we took victims’ wishes into account. We regularly took cases to trial and won many of them, but reporting rates were low and not increasing. Many victims dropped out of the process, and we didn’t always understand why. As Ramsey County Attorney John Choi described, “I knew deep down that our response just wasn’t good enough. Survivors weren’t getting the help they needed. We weren’t achieving justice for many victims.” That all began to change when Ramsey County embarked on a 6-year journey which resulted in sweeping changes to our criminal justice response.
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Alternative Responses to Intimate Partner Prosecution: From Diversion to High Lethality
In 75% of intimate partner violence homicides, the victim experienced violence within the preceding 30 days. Victims of intimate partner homicide who have been strangled are 750% more likely to be victims of intimate partner homicide. However, not all cases involve high lethality. Therefore, communities may consider alternatives to prosecution in intimate partner violence cases, as a result of data driven factors that address outside stressors and engagement of survivors.