2008 Sexual Violence
and
Victim Services Conference
Gave Voice to Victim Needs
The Florida Council
Against Sexual Violence and the Florida Network
of Victim Witness Services hosted the “We
All Have a Voice.Listen” Conference on
June 17-20. Held in Miami Beach, more than 230
people from Florida and across the nation attended.
The conference featured 26 workshop sessions
and four keynote addresses. The workshops addressed
diverse issues related to sexual violence and
victim services. Clinical workshops such as
Steven Gold’s, “Paradox for Childhood
Sexual Abuse Survivors: ‘Recovering’
What Never Existed” and Ann Loonstra’s,
“Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adult
Survivors of Childhood Sexual Violence”
were very popular as were legal workshops, such
as Katrina Lacy’s, “Privilege and
Confidentiality.” An administrative track
was offered to support executive directors and
administrative staff in the important work that
they do.
Anna Salter opened
the conference with a keynote addressing issues
related to sexual offenders, providing insight
into the behavior of predators and sexual perpetrators.
Pablo Lorenzo, Advocate Center for Training
and Treatment, spoke on the role of fathers
in the Latino community and encouraged a multidisciplinary
understanding of fatherhood and family violence
among immigrant fathers in south Florida. Michelle
Garcia, Director of the Stalking Resource Center,
gave a keynote address focused on the connection
between stalking and sexual assault. The closing
keynote was delivered by Gretchen Howard, president
of the Florida Network of Victim Services, and
Jennifer Dritt, executive director of the Florida
Council Against Sexual Violence, and addressed
the current state of victim services and rape
crisis work in Florida. Posing the question
“Where to From Here?” they examined
the potential impact of federal budget cuts
and laws passed by the 2008 legislative session
on our work.
Reflecting the conference
theme “We All Have a Voice. Listen,”
the film “The Greatest Silence: Rape in
the Congo,” directed by Lisa Jackson,
was shown. A post-screening discussion was facilitated
by the Florida Center for Survivors of Torture.
The audience was deeply moved by the stories
of women and girls who have been systematically
kidnapped, raped, mutilated and tortured by
soldiers of both foreign militias and the Congolese
army. Most inspiring was the survivors’
demonstration of resiliency, resistance, courage
and grace. The women of Congo spoke and we listened
– the audience contributed $300 for the
Panzi Hospital of Bukavu, a Congolese hospital
that provides victims of sexual violence from
all over the Congo with medical treatment, psychological
care, socio-economic assistance and daycare
for children of survivors.
The conference
also featured the third annual Wellness Day
before the conference. The optional half-day
of self-care activities included a “Spa
Day” offering facials, manicures and massage,
and six wellness workshops introducing participants
to yoga, Morita Therapy for stress management,
painting, flying kites, exercise strategies,
healthy diet and mind acupuncture.
FCASV
Sponsors
Law Enforcement Training on
Investigating Non-Stranger Rape
All over the country communities
and law enforcement agencies and prosecutors
have gotten quite skillful at going after and
convicting rapes committed by strangers. Non-stranger
rape, however, is much more difficult to address
and successfully investigate and prosecute.
Even though three quarters of rapes are committed
by someone the victim knows, the cases are often
boiled down to her word against his, where the
defense is a consent defense. When responders
understand more about how offenders operate
and the corresponding investigation techniques
to employ, they can better divine the real facts
of the case and present enough proof of the
assault for prosecutors to go forward with cases.
In May and June, FCASV sponsored
four regional trainings entitled Investigating
Non-Stranger Rape. FCASV adapted the curriculum
from the nationally recognized Ending Violence
Against Women training and worked with
Detective Carolyn Roberts of the Boulder, Colorado
Sheriff’s Office, as lead trainer. Nita
Denton, attorney in charge for Martin County
of the 19th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s
Office, advocate Hadeel Sweatt of the Women’s
Center of Jacksonville, and Vicky Castro, rape
counseling program director for SPARCC in Sarasota,
co-led the trainings along with Detective Roberts.
Sexual assault forensic examiners Lila Choulat,
MD; Lynda Tiefel, RN; Jean Swaby, RN, PNP; and
Rita Hall, ARNP presented on the forensic medical
exam and evidence collection.
The Investigating Non-Stranger
Rape trainings pointed out how societal
attitudes which blame victims for their own
rapes and excuse offender behavior create a
perfect environment for letting perpetrators
off the hook. Detective Roberts led participants
through non-stranger rapists’ tactics
for selecting victims, choosing vulnerable people
and gaining their trust. She discussed effective
investigation techniques to use in these cases,
including controlled phone calls (arranging
for the victim to call the perpetrator and solicit
a confession), finding corroborating evidence,
and methods for conducting victim and suspect
interviews.
Hadeel Sweatt and Vicky Castro
covered a section on trauma and victim behavior,
explaining how seemingly irrational victim reactions
actually lend more credibility to the victim’s
account of the assault. Most victims freeze
rather than try to fight off a rapist; it is
common for the brain not to remember details
of the assault; and victims often avoid interacting
with investigators and even advocates in order
psychologically to move on with their lives
and not think about the assault.
Nita Denton presented the laws
of Florida pertaining to sexual battery and
victim rights and taught approaches for prosecuting
these difficult cases. She instructed participants
in using aggressive trial motions, working with
victims to tell their stories of the rape in
a way that recreates the reality of the crime
for the jury, and using analogies of other crimes
to challenge jurors’ assumptions about
rape.
The presenters co-led trainings
demonstrating how good multidisciplinary working
relationships and practices can help build victims’
trust in the responders, gain their full cooperation
and lead them on the road to healing from the
rape while increasing the chances of bringing
the perpetrator to justice.
FCASV would like to recognize
the Women’s Center of Jacksonville, Refuge
House, Broward County Sexual Assault Treatment
Center and the Pinellas County Victim Rights
Coalition for hosting the trainings.
FCASV
Launches SANE/SART Project
Micheala Denny comes
to FCASV from Bucknell University where she
served as the Women’s Resource Center
director and was a member of the university’s
SART. As the SANE/SART coordinator, Denny is
responsible for the provision of technical assistance
and training for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners
(SANEs), and assistance with development and
maintenance of Sexual Assault Response Team
(SART) programs.
Denny’s first major project
is to schedule and coordinate four of the eight
total 40-hour SANE courses that the FCASV will
offer in the next two years. The cost of the
training is $250 per person, or $50 per day.
The Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association
(FPAA) is serving as a co-sponsor of these trainings
and is offering scholarships to qualified prosecutors
to attend days four and five of the trainings
during which the trainer and guest faculty members
will focus on courtroom preparation, testimony,
the judicial system, police roles and responsibilities,
and crime lab analysis. Scholarships covering
the full registration costs for SART teams within
the state of Florida consisting of one nurse,
one prosecutor, one law enforcement officer,
and one advocate from a certified rape crisis
center are available from the FCASV.
The FCASV has contracted with
Kimberly Womack, DHSc, MSN, ARNP-C, CEN, SANE-A,
to be the primary trainer for the first three
course cycles. In addition to Womack, 11 different
faculty members were recruited to present at
the Miami Beach training, and presenter scheduling
is currently underway for upcoming course cycles
in Panama City, and Viera.
Each course cycle will include
information on such topics as head-to-toe assessments,
forensic documentation, trauma identification,
genital anatomy, continuum of care, evidence
collection, and medical forensic history. Each
course will provide participants with hands-on
skills and theory development. The overall goal
is to provide the best, most comprehensive SANE
training in Florida to help communities better
serve victims of sexual violence through building
SANE programs across the state.
Another key responsibility of
the SANE/SART coordinator position is to provide
assistance to communities seeking to develop
or enhance existing Sexual Assault Response
Teams (SARTs). Denny has attended trainings
with the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual
Assault and the International Association of
Forensic Nursing where she learned about the
many aspects of SART development and maintenance.
She is able to provide training and technical
support to individuals and organizations throughout
the state of Florida.
Registration forms for upcoming
SANE trainings can be found below. For additional
information about the trainings or for information
about SART assistance, please contact Micheala.
Upcoming
SANE Trainings
July 21-25
Panama City, Fl, street location TBA
August 4-8
Viera, Fl (North of Melbourne), Sexual Assualt
Victim Services
October
– Bradenton, TBA
The training is geared
toward medical professionals: ARNPs, RNs, and
physicians. The training will also be valuable
to prosecutors, law enforcement officers, victim
advocates and crime lab analysts.
Training topic highlights:
Sexual Assault Response Team Roles
Taking the Medical Forensic History
Head to Toe Assessment/Forensic Documentation
Trauma Identification
Evidence Collection and Treatment
Court Room Preparation and Testimony
The training cost is $250 for
the full week or $50 per day. Full tuition scholarships
will be given to any community that sends a
team consisting of a nurse/physician, law enforcement
officer, rape crisis program victim advocate
and prosecutor.
Registration Forms:
General
Registration
SART
Team Scholarship Application
Prosecutors
Scholarship Application
Teen
Dating Violence Project
FCASV is currently serving on
the advisory board of a project directed by
FCADV to assist Florida’s domestic violence
advocates, sexual violence and rape crisis advocates,
and runaway and homeless youth service providers
with the issue of teen dating violence. One
portion of the project involves creating a user-friendly
curriculum complete with practical information
regarding the complexities and dynamics of dating
violence. One goal of the project is to increase
domestic and sexual violence advocates’
and runaway youth workers’ knowledge of
and competency in direct service provision to
runaway adolescents who experience dating violence.
Read
more about the project and check out the
resources available:
Model
Intervention Protocols and Prevention Strategies
Model
Collaborative Protocols
Dating
violence palm card/male victim
Dating
violence palm card/female victim
Brochure
Poster
