This provides detailed information for those conducting investigative interviews with people reporting sexual assault. It includes sections on brain-based effects on memories, fundamental interviewing principles, and techniques for improving interviews and the evidence collected. Before using this watch my YouTube video, “Neurobiology of Trauma and Sexual Assault” (see above).

This provides options for answering sexual assault victims’ common questions with brain-based explanations, which can increase understanding and reduce shame and self-blame. Before using this handout, watch my YouTube video, “Neurobiology of Trauma and Sexual Assault” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwTQ_U3p5Wc

This document is a comprehensive report and set of recommendations on victims’ rights and services from and concerning virtually every community involved with crime victims across the nation. The report is the result of more than three years’ work by more than 1,000 individuals in different professions. It examines how victims’ rights and services have been realized since the 1982 Final Report of the President’s Task Force and recommends what we as a society should strive to achieve for victims as we enter the 21st century

New Jersey Attorney General’s directive revising procedures for retaining sexual assault forensic evidence (SAFE) “Hold” Kits and extending the time for victims to decide whether to report the crime and release collected forensic evidence to Law Enforcement authorities.

Police departments hold the future of victims and communities in their hands, and how police departments across the United States approach high-profile crimes, especially sex crimes, will map the future of community life.

The New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault has developed this Legal Advocate’s Manual to help Rape Crisis Program staff improve the experience of sexual assault survivors with the criminal justice system. The manual has two primary sections: one addressing the assistance useful to individual survivors at each stage of the legal process; the other describing ways Rape Crisis Program staff can work with law enforcement, prosecution and the judiciary to improve the experience of all sexual assault survivors.

This article describes the three primary functions that Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) provide to the judicial process from a prosecutor’s perspective. These three functions include comfort and care of patients complaining of sexual assault, competent and consistent evidence collection, and expert testimony on anatomy and tissue. The article makes the argument that all three of these functions are conducted more effectively when the SANE maintains her objectivity and neutrality as a medical and scientific professional. Finally, a recent Supreme Court ruling, Crawford v. Washington, might greatly affect a SANE’s ability to repeat hearsay statements made to her by patients who become unavailable to testify. The article will discuss the impact of this case, as it relates to the SANE’s function as an expert witness and the issue of hearsay admissibility.

The Strangulation Toolkit provides the forensic nurse with detailed guidance on assessment techniques, documentation, and evidence collection for this patient population. This toolkit also provides documents such as discharge instructions and sample policies that can be adjusted to best suit your institution and your forensic practice.

This report describes the Non-report Medical Forensic Exam Program primarily from the perspective of Texas Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs). However, the research team acknowledges that some hospitals are conducting medical forensic exams, and possibly non-report exams, without the assistance of SANEs.

This report uses data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to describe the characteristics and patterns of domestic violence. The report focuses on domestic violence, but includes estimates of violence committed by acquaintances and strangers to provide comparisons.

We must understand coping skills of victims and facilitate effective communication the best we can.

This document takes the best of the available evidence and offers up some excellent strategies for what has become an emerging topic.

Campbell and colleagues developed an evaluation Toolkit for use by sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) to assess criminal case outcomes in adult sexual assault cases seen by SANE programs (Campbell, Townsend, Shaw, Karim, &Markowitz, 2014; Campbell, Bybee, et al., 2014). The Toolkit provides step-by-step directions and an easy-to-use statistical program. This study describes implementation of the Toolkit in Salt Lake County, the first site outside the pilot sites to utilize the program. The Toolkit revealed that, in Salt Lake County from 2003 to 2011, only 6% of adult sexual assault cases were successfully prosecuted. These findings prompted multiple community discussions, media attention, and a call to action to improve the investigation and prosecution of adult sexual assault cases. The primary purpose of this case report is to encourage other SANE teams and communities to use the Toolkit by sharing the successful experience of Salt Lake County in implementing the Toolkit.

Purpose: Much of what we know about serial sex offenders is based on multiple sexual assaults linked via conviction or self-report or offenders who primarily target strangers. Our data are derived from serial sex offenders linked via DNA testing of unsubmitted sexual assault kits—which provides a more objective examination of offending patterns.

Methods: Study uses descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and sexual assault narratives to explore offending patterns for serial vs. nonserial sex offenders and crossover offending patterns by relationship, age, and gender for serial sex offenders. We examine crossover offending patterns for three groups of serial sex offenders: those who assaulted only strangers, both strangers and nonstrangers, and only nonstrangers.

Results: Findings show significant crossover offending by relationship and age. Over one-quarter sexually assaulted both strangers and nonstrangers. Serial sex offenders often vary their offending pattern across offenses. The offender-victim relationship appears particularly salient when assessing offending patterns.

Conclusions: Offending patterns are not a consistently reliable link across assaults. Many of these sexual assaults had not been linked prior to DNA testing, thereby illustrating the power of the DNA testing of SAKs for identifying and linking serial sex offenders, particularly when testing is followed by a thorough investigation.