The Resource The National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s Newsletter | 2014 Fall & Winter 20 years of VAWA (Cover photo of Vice President Joe Biden.) Inside It's time for us to get practical about prevention Page 9 Psychologist reaches survivors through cartoons Page 24 University mandates sexual assault prevention lessons Page 32 COVER: CELEBRATING THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT PAGE 20 2014 Fall & Winter Contents The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) invites your comments: The Resource/NSVRC 123 North Enola Drive, Enola, PA 17025 Toll free: 877-739-3895 Fax: 717-909-0714 TTY: 717-909-0715 Email: resources@nsvrc.org www.nsvrc.org Editor & Designer: Mallory Gricoskie, NSVRC Communications Specialist NSVRC Communications Director: Tracy Cox NSVRC Director: Karen Baker, LMSW CEO, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape: Delilah Rumburg NSVRC Advisory Council Peggy Brown, Juneau, AK Susan Chasson, Provo, UT Maia Christopher, Beaverton, OR Nancy Hoffman, M.A., LPC, CSW, Fairmont, WV Keith Kaufman, Ph.D., Portland, OR Patrick Lemmon, Portland, OR Grace S. Mattern, Concord, NH, Chair Strong Oak, LICSW, Greenfield, MA Holly Ramsey-Klawsnik, Ph.D., Canton, MA Jennifer Rauhouse, Phoenix, AZ Malia Richmond-Crum, MPH, Atlanta, GA Delilah Rumburg, Enola, PA Rebecca Ward, Psy. D, San Juan, PR Jonathan Yglesias, Olympia, WA Ellen Yin-Wycoff, Sacramento, CA Mira Yusef, Des Moines, IA This publication was supported by Cooperative Agreement #1UF2CE002359-02 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PCAR or NSVRC. Find the NSVRC on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Youtube, and Pinterest. About the Cover (Photo same as image on cover) (Cover photo by The Associated Press) This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act. Vice President Joe Biden called it his "proudest legislative achievement" during a speech he gave in September. Those of us working in the anti-sexual violence movement can see why. VAWA has done so much to advance our mission, from offering greater protections to victims to improving our criminal justice system to helping change the way the public views sexual and domestic violence, and even more. Inside this edition of The Resource, Diane Moyer, Legal Director of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, recounts what it was like to work on the second iteration of VAWA in 1998. “The job of advocates has and always will be to bring voices of the voiceless to the table, advocating for their rights and needs,” Diane writes. More on Pages 20-23 (Three photos are placed at the top of the page. At the left is a photo of a red quilt that lies in a patch of grass. The Monument Quilt, a crowd-sourced collection of thousands of stories from survivors, was displayed in Pittsburgh during the National Sexual Assault Conference. In the photo at top right, four members of the Army pose and smile. An Army contest had five teams of soldiers design brochures to bring awareness to the topic of sexual assault. The photo at the bottom right is an illustration that shows a woman saying, “My past could overwhelm other people. I was abused.” Nina Burrowes, a cartooning psychologist, specializes in the topic of sexual abuse.) In Every Issue 4-6 Contributors 7 Director’s Viewpoint 12 Community Voices 28 Coalition Spotlight: WA 30 Coalition Spotlight: KY 34 From the Library 36: Coming Up: SAAM Main Features 10: New to the movement, an advocate reflects on her first year in anti-sexual violence work 14: Striving to become an anti-racist organization? So is Portland Women's Crisis Line; here's what staffers have done so far 16: Evaluating prevention work is complicated; here are three simple steps to get started 18: Scenes from Pittsburgh: "Many Voices, One Movement" shine at the National Sexual Assault Conference 2014 Fall & Winter Contributors Nora Bagusky has been a counselor/advocate with the Victims Resource Center for the past 16 years, where she has worked for crime victims’ rights. She chairs the National Family Week Conference committee, which will focus on stopping violence against women. In her spare time, she is an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Dr. Nina Burrowes is a British psychologist who specializes in the psychology of sexual abuse. She has worked with offenders, victims, prosecutors, and the public. She is the author of Responding to the challenge of rape myths in court — a guide for prosecutors and The courage to be me. She is the creator of Sexual abuse: The questions you’ve never had a chance to ask, an online video series about sexual abuse. Kathleen (Katy) Conklin is the Executive Director for Shelter Inc. in Alpena, Mich. For almost 30 years, she has advocated for social justice and change. Her background includes working as an advocate and support group facilitator for a domestic violence shelter, and more than 17 years as an attorney. She was the supervising attorney of the Domestic Violence Unit of Legal Services of South Central Michigan. Morgan J Curtis, Licensed Master Social Worker, is the Deputy Director of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, and has more than a decade of experience working to end sexual violence. Prior to assuming her current role, she spent eight years building the capacity of rape crisis centers to design, implement, and evaluate primary prevention programming. Melandie Deplazes is Executive Director of Safe Alternatives for Abused Families (SAAF). She began working at SAAF as a volunteer in 2007. In 2009, she was hired full-time as a Child Advocate and, one year later, moved into the role of Outreach Coordinator and Assistant Director. In 2011, she was promoted to Executive Director. She holds an Associate of Science degree in Legal Secretary, a paraprofessional certificate to work with Title I and special education children in grades K-12, and a North Dakota Substitute Teaching Licensure for grades K-12. Dr. Christine Fiore is Chair of the University of Montana’s Psychology Department. She assists with the university’s coordinated response to address sexual violence on campus. Melissa Geldernick is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology, with a minor in biology. She has worked with Personal Development Center Inc. since March, which has been an amazing learning experience that she says sparked a passion she didn’t know existed. Mallory Gricoskie is Communications Specialist at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), where she is editor and designer of The Resource and other publications. Prior to working at NSVRC, she was a copy editor and designer for a Pennsylvania newspaper. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Dr. Elizabeth Hubble is Co-Director of the University of Montana’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the Co-Chair of the University Council on Student Assault. She assists with the university’s coordinated response to address sexual violence on campus. Logan Micheel is the Child Advocacy Specialist at the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs (WCSAP). Logan provides technical assistance, training, and resources to support sexual assault advocates and community programs in their work with children, teens, and non-offending caregivers. Prior to joining WCSAP’s staff in 2010, she worked as a legal advocate at a community sexual assault program and conducted graduate research on the factors influencing sexual assault case filing decisions. Kat Monusky is Prevention Program Coordinator at the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs (WCSAP), where she provides technical assistance, training, and resource development on primary prevention to support the work of programs around the state. Before coming to WCSAP, she provided advocacy and prevention education on sexual and intimate partner violence for campus and community programs. She has a Master of Science degree. Jill Morris has been working in the victim’s rights field since 1994. She began her career working for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. She served as Director of Public Policy for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Director of Communications for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape. In 2006, Jill won the Amnesty International Human Rights Award for her work on the Violence Against Women Act. She is the Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Field Liaison for the NO MORE Campaign. Rebecca Peatow Nickels is Executive Director of the Portland Women’s Crisis Line. She joined the movement to end sexual and domestic violence in 1996. She chairs the board of Partnership for Safety and Justice. She believes that being a white anti-racist activist is like being a feminist leader: it’s a work in progress. She has a master’s degree in social work. Maya Pilgrim is Primary Prevention Specialist at Texas Association Against Sexual Assault. For more than 12 years, she has lovingly grappled with the praxis of prevention, evaluation, youth development, and migration. She is passionate about how the challenges within communities are intrinsically connected and being most accountable to those she serves in her work. Eileen Recktenwald is the Executive Director of the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs Inc. (KASAP). Under her guidance, Kentucky established the State Prevention Team that created a statewide sexual violence prevention plan. She led KASAP as it worked with state legislators on bills ranging in topic from child sex abuse to interpersonal violence and more. She is the 2014 recipient of the Gail Burns-Smith Award. Kerri L. Thomas has a Bachelor of Arts degree in counseling from Marshall University. For three years, she has been the Prevention Educator and a Victim Advocate at CONTACT Rape Crisis Center in Huntington, W. Va. Her passion is to change the world for the better, one person at a time. Liz Zadnik is the Capacity Building Specialist at the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and has been part of the violence prevention and reproductive justice movements as a community educator and organizer. She has a master’s degree in community psychology and social change from Pennsylvania State University, concentrating on community diversity and gender issues. We’d love to hear from you. Be a contributor. To have your voice featured in an upcoming issue, email story ideas to resources@nsvrc.org. Director’s Viewpoint Karen Baker, NSVRC Director As 2014 is winding down, exciting initiatives are happening nationally. After wrapping up a great National Sexual Assault Conference in Pittsburgh (more about NSAC on Page 18), NSVRC took part in two new partnerships: one with the White House, and the other with the National Football League. It’s On Us I was a guest at the White House in September to support the new public awareness and education campaign, “It’s On Us,” which was unveiled by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. The campaign’s goal is to engage college students and bystanders in preventing sexual assault on campus. We couldn’t be more excited to help further that goal, and the timing of the campaign aligns with recent media reports, as well as our plans for 2015. In the months leading up to the White House’s announcement, NSVRC announced that the next Sexual Assault Awareness Month will focus on campus sexual assault. The theme for 2015 is, “It’s Time to Act. Safer Campuses. Brighter Futures. Prevent Sexual Violence.” As “It’s On Us” begins to roll out resources on campus sexual assault, NSVRC is working to prepare other helpful tools for SAAM. By April, numerous resources will be available to help everyone see their role in preventing campus sexual assault. Working with the NFL In September, NSVRC announced the first steps of a multiyear partnership with the NFL. We are hopeful that our organization will have the ability to positively contribute our expertise to educate the NFL community, support survivors, and shift the culture of athletics to focus on sexual assault prevention. As part of this partnership, the NFL has pledged financial support toward ending sexual assault and domestic violence. We are thankful for the support, and we believe it will help organizations within our movement further their great work. While we are still in the early stages of our partnership with the NFL, we are aware that the NFL’s responsiveness and leadership can be a catalyst for other major organizations to prevent sexual assault and domestic violence. Looking Ahead NSVRC celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2015. We are thankful for the 15 years we’ve spent working alongside all of you. Thank you for all that you do to end sexual violence. In Partnership, Karen L. Baker In the Military Army contest promotes sexual assault awareness (PHOTO COLLAGE: Pictures of the U.S. Army’s 72nd Medical Detachment Golf Squad, Charlie Squad, Alpha Squad, and Echo Squad.) Five teams of soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 72nd Medical Detachment, currently serving in Afghanistan, designed brochures that bring awareness to sexual assault. The contest was created by Sgt. 1st Class Donald Scott to support the Army’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) program. Scott wanted to facilitate a contest through which soldiers’ messaging could reach other soldiers. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) is in the process of helping judge the contest. Winners will be announced online at nsvrc.org, and on NSVRC's Facebook and Twitter pages. All photos were provided by the U.S. Army. Primary Prevention Prevention is for everyone, so how can we discuss it in a practical way? By Liz Zadnik, Capacity Building Specialist New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault I consider myself lucky to have been able to work with incredibly passionate and innovative preventionists, people who have challenged me to get out of the theoretical and back into the practical. I was sitting with one of these individuals one day when she asked me how I could help her explain prevention to her colleagues and funders. “How can I tell them what I’m doing is ending sexual violence?” she asked. I started to list research about the socio-ecological model, public health, and different theories on behavior change. Before I could really get going, she put her hand on the table and said, “Liz, I don’t have that kind of time.” I stopped mid-sentence and sat straight up in my chair, “Right, of course not.” The past few years have been a journey toward practicality — translating research and theory into practice. My favorite focus areas are risk and protective and resilience factors. These are concepts that lend themselves well to practical application. In addition, we have research from our field and others to help forge a path toward promising prevention strategies (Resnick, Ireland, & Borowsky, 2004; Tharp et al., 2012; U.S. Office of the Surgeon General, 2001). My hope, within the next few paragraphs, is to offer nuggets of usefulness to those looking for similar help as the preventionist who once sat across from me. I have heard, “We need to offer something that connects our curriculum to sexual violence so we can show funders we prevent it” and, “How can I show that my curriculum reduces sexual violence?” too many times to count. It is always challenging to have to say that we can’t really do that right now. My only relief is when I get to say, “BUT you can show how you’re addressing this risk factor or promoting a protective factor.” It doesn’t always get the reaction I’m hoping for, but eventually we come to some mutual understanding and anxiety reduction. “Prevention” is a term that best reflects the long-term process of promoting resilience and protective factors while intentionally addressing risk factors in an effort to reduce perpetration of sexual violence. The “strategy” is the activities or approach used to move that process along. We can’t yet prove or find a way to reduce sexual violence as a result of one curriculum or single set of activities or approach, but we can do our best to intentionally focus on the constellation of factors that encourage and/or discourage violence from taking place. Funders and communities might not always understand this, so I thought up and experimented with some phrases or formulas that preventionists have found helpful: • [This strategy] will help promote [protective factor] so the community is a safer place for everyone. Example: “Our parent and adult education program will help promote action and positive connection so the community is a safer place for all children.” Looking deeper: Engaging parents in child sexual abuse prevention works “up” the social ecology to address relational-level factors such as family relationships, family environment, and history. It also engages adults in the protection of children to lift the responsibility of ending or stopping abuse from children, thus shifting social norms. • [This specific activity within the strategy] addresses [specific risk factor for perpetration] and will present new models for attitudes or behaviors. Example: “Deconstructing this media example addresses depictions and attitudes toward dangerous hypermasculinity, and will present new models for attitudes and behaviors.” Looking deeper: Our strategy must go beyond challenging hypermasculinity to generating new models for masculinity and male sexuality. In doing so, we begin to reduce the impact of traditional social norms and dangerous peer attitudes while also promoting self-confidence and leadership. • Prevention is about walking alongside the community over time to support the creation of a healthier and more productive [service area]. Example: “This community prevention coalition will serve as the leader for prevention efforts in _______ County so that future generations can be healthier and more productive citizens.” Looking deeper: Communities know what they need and how to best find a solution. Preventionists can share knowledge and contextualize research to work together to find shared goals and focus areas. There also can be times when risk factors outweigh protective factors; this can be difficult to share with communities, and all efforts should be taken to emphasize resilience and connectedness as we look forward. Breaking things down into their respective parts can help with thinking about evaluation. Instead of measuring the overwhelming concept of sexual violence reduction, we can capture information on attitudes toward gender norms and masculinity and confidence in responding to inappropriate or damaging comments, and gauge community climate over time. We also can tell the story of the community’s process and journey. Prevention strategies are most effective when they are relevant to the community and promote trust, respect, and mutual benefit. Online For more about the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, go to www.njcasa.org. References Resnick, M. D., Ireland, M., & Borowsky, I. (2004). Youth violence perpetration: What protects? What predicts? Findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Journal of Adolescent Health, 35, 424e1-424e10. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2004.01.011 Tharp, A. T., DeGue, S., Valle, L. A., Brookmeyer, K. A., Massetti, G., & Matjasko, J. L. (2013). A systematic qualitative review of risk and protective factors for sexual violence perpetration. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 14, 133-167. doi:10.1177/1524838012470031 U.S. Office of the Surgeon General, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, National Institute of Mental Health, Center for Mental Health Services. (2001). Risk factors for youth violence. In Youth violence: A report of the Surgeon General (Chapter 4). Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44293/ Through the Eyes of a New Advocate My first year working in the anti-sexual violence movement By Mallory Gricoskie, Communications Specialist The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (PHOTO: Staff from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, pose for a photo to commemorate One Billion Rising on Valentine’s Day 2013.) A sexual assault survivor sat at the front of the class and nervously clasped her hands together. She warned us that she was going to cry. After all, this was her first time sharing with strangers the intimate details of her assault. I listened and pushed back a growing lump in my throat as she candidly told a group of about 10 of us everything she could pull from the darkest depths of her memory. When her story was done, she breathed a sigh of relief. Calm washed over her face. She smiled. This was during Sexual Assault Counselor training, which I completed in December 2013. I was hired as the Communications Specialist for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) in January 2013. Before that, I have to admit that I didn’t know much about this movement; about this world that is somehow so sad and, simultaneously, so full of hope and strength and human kindness. My background is in journalism. When I received an offer letter from NSVRC, it included the organization’s mission statement, vision, and guiding principles. There was talk of oppression, ableism, sexism, ageism, classism, and more. Blissfully unaware of how all of these “-isms” tied into violence, I signed a contract saying that I would honor these principles while carrying out my day-to-day duties. On my first day, I was handed a list of phone numbers for every coalition in the United States. How intimidating! Then, I received the seven-page “NSVRC Acronym List.” I’m sure veterans of the movement already know this, but we tend to love speaking in acronyms. This is great for abbreviating a conversation among advocates but, as a new person, I regularly heard sentences like this in my head, “We’re working on a project with AJKLEJWIRNL, funded by QUIXSOR. Maybe we should call KJOCLMEWOR for more information on that.” I feared I was in over my head. I was. But maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. There’s a saying that always pops into my head whenever I think about my entrance into this movement: “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” Sure, I’ll never remember seven pages’ worth of acronyms or be able to call to mind every intricate statistic on sexual assault. But there are things I have learned that I’m not sure I would be taught anywhere else – at least, I wouldn’t be taught as effectively anywhere else. There are days when my job is draining; days when I don’t want to hear one more disheartening statistic or heartbreaking story. Those days are a painful but poignant reminder that the world does not begin and end with me; the reality is that each of us is fighting our own quiet battles in the best ways we know how. In the most downtrodden moments, I am reminded of the internal strength of so many — survivors, all. Never before have I worked in a field where I’ve seen so much sadness and, simultaneously, so much hope and love. My co-workers and I are often reminded to take the time to practice self-care. During my first “caring for caregivers”-type session, I remember thinking, “What is this all about? This seems so cheesy. I’ll be fine.” Then I attended a particular Sexual Assault Counselor training in which we talked a lot about the trafficking of children. I remember getting behind the wheel of my car, feeling numb, and crying; it was as though someone had turned on a faucet inside of my eyes and I had no ability to control it. I remember calling on my self-care training that night and ever since, I’ve practiced self-care more regularly. All of this is coming from a girl who was too overworked to take bathroom breaks without feeling guilty in a former job with intense deadline pressures. Speaking of my former job in journalism, I used to think that getting a good story was and should be the ultimate goal of my job. I was beyond wrong about that. I wasn’t ever intentionally insensitive, but I don’t think I was as trauma-informed as I should have been when covering and editing stories on sensitive subject matters. My experience in the anti-sexual assault movement has reinforced the belief that taking care of each other at all costs, in every job, should be everyone’s ultimate goal. After all, we’re all in this together. Together … that reminds me. I have met so many advocates and allies who work in this movement. I have to say, the family-like atmosphere of this particular group of people is, in my opinion, unrivaled. Thank you for welcoming me and for helping me as I stumble along in an attempt to learn and grow with you. You have opened my eyes profoundly with your selflessness and persistence, and have shown me that so much goodness exists, even in darkness. Community Voices What are some of your favorite ways to practice self-care? (Photo icon of a microphone sits to the right of this quote) “Playing ’Cards Against Humanity,' top-of-our-lungs car karaoke with my daughter, working up a sweat, deep-breathing.” -- Maya Pilgrim, Primary Prevention Specialist, Texas Association Against Sexual Assault “Try to leave work at work; no ‘Law & Order: SVU.’ Enjoy an afternoon at home for lunch to relax and unbutton my jeans (and watch ‘Days of Our Lives’). Take an evening or a whole 24 hours (every month or so) to a nearby ‘bigger city’ and enjoy a mini-vacation without [my] spouse or kids.” -- Kerri L. Thomas, Prevention Educator and Advocate, CONTACT Rape Crisis Center (Photo icon of two hearts sits to the right of this quote) “My favorite way to practice self-care is spending time with the one I love; making the time for a healthy relationship.” -- Nora Bagusky, Counselor/advocate, Victims Resource Center (Photo icon a tv sits to the left of this quote) “I love to laugh, so funny Youtube videos are a quick fix.” -- Melissa Geldernick, Sexual Assault Advocate, Personal Development Center “Spending time with others in the field learning about their great programs and encouraging them. I feel best when I’m with others who understand how hard our work is and we can hug and smile together.” -- Jill Morris, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Field Liaison, NO MORE (Photo icon of a leaf sits to the left of this quote) “Going by myself and receiving a full body massage, along with a manicure and pedicure.” -- Melandie Deplazes, Executive Director, Safe Alternatives for Abused Families (Photo icon of a car sits to the left of this quote) “Clean, walk, drives, spend time with friends. [I] love, love, love my furry babies.”-- Katy Conklin, Executive Director, Shelter Inc. Stay CONNECTED. Check us out online. Read the latest news and information online at www.nsvrc.org Post your event on our national calendar at www.nsvrc.org/calendar Find Sexual Assault Awareness Month info at www.nsvrc.org/saam View new resources at www.nsvrc.org/publications Anti-Racism Work Becoming an anti-racist organization: Why it’s important and ways to begin By Rebecca Peatow Nickels, MSW, Executive Director, Portland Women’s Crisis Line Online Learn more about Portland Women’s Crisis Line at www.pwcl.org. (PHOTO: Portland Women’s Crisis Line Staff and Supporters hold signs that say such things as “I am a mother,” “I am a sister,” “I am a son,” “I am a feminist,” and “I am an advocate.”) Unfortunately, racism is very much a part of the United States’ history and present, and survivors of sexual violence deserve services that are not just culturally competent but authentically anti-racist, as well. All ways that individuals and organizations can work to end racism are urgently needed. Anti-racism is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as “the policy or practice of opposing racism and promoting racial tolerance.” At the Portland Women’s Crisis Line (PWCL), we’re committed to becoming an anti-racist organization because we believe that all oppressions are at the root of sexual and domestic violence. We also believe that survivors of color face unique, specific obstacles to receiving services, both within our intervention system and in society as a whole. Becoming an anti-racist organization is part of our current strategic plan under the overarching goal of providing equitable services to all survivors. When speaking publicly about PWCL’s work to become anti-racist, I am aware that being white puts me in an awkward place. Let’s be real: What can I possibly know about the realities of racism for survivors of color? Indeed, what can many of the members of my organization truly know? Like many organizations in the state of Oregon, we are primarily white women of a specific age range and socioeconomic class. Luckily, I’ve received guidance from both women of color and white women who are part of this work. They’ve encouraged us to move forward, plan for resistance and mistakes, and remember that this will be long-term work. I am new to it, and thousands of leaders of color have paved the way. As written by Tema Okun (2006) in From White Racist to White Anti-Racist: the life-long journey: “Any usefulness found here should be credited to the larger community of anti-racism activists; any errors or flawed thinking is mine alone.” At PWCL, we’ve laid out our goals on an annual basis, which is supported by the format of our strategic plan. To begin, we made sure that we had buy-in at all levels of the organization, with special emphasis on our Board of Directors. Of course, it helped that as the Executive Director, I was prioritizing this work. A couple of board members prioritized it too, which gave the remaining board members the chance to ask clarifying questions directly to their peers. We also formed an Equity & Inclusion Committee (EIC) made up of board members, staff, and volunteers. At first, we limited the number of representatives on the committee, but later invited any PWCL member who is committed to staying involved and active. In this first year, the committee researched other organizations that prioritize anti-racism, racial justice, and diversity. We conducted one-on-one interviews with those agency representatives and asked the same set of questions. Primarily, we wanted to know how their process started, lessons learned, actual practice that has changed in their organization, and ways they handled setbacks or backlash. We’ll take this information and borrow or adjust what will work for us. We also held a retreat for all PWCL members with an outside facilitator to help us define what PWCL specifically means by becoming anti-racist. The result was this statement: “PWCL recognizes that we live in an inherently racist culture and many survivors experience racism on a daily basis. As a continuation of our work to dismantle all forms of oppression and provide equitable services, we are striving to become an anti-racist organization by applying the lens of racial justice to our work with individuals and institutions.” Our next step is to conduct an assessment to know where we are as an organization, where the areas of priority are, and where we have areas of strength. We already know that we should change our employee and volunteer recruitment process, as well as to better weave our anti-racist value into our volunteer training and employee orientation. Our next focus will be how to best invite more people of color both into this conversation, as well as into the leadership of our organization. We don’t want to be an anti-racist organization that lacks diversity; we want to know that our work is having a tangible impact on who connects with our organization. We also need to find opportunities to gather feedback directly from survivors who access our organization so that we know what their experiences are and where they identify necessary improvements. We’ve only just begun to become an anti-racist organization, and I’m dedicated to continuing the momentum we’ve achieved so far. I know that, just as everyone has a role to play to end sexual violence, each one of us can do something to chip away at the institution of racism. When our organizations prioritize that goal, survivors of color gain more equitable access to the services they need. Becoming an anti-racist organization isn’t something that has an end point; it’s an ongoing process that will ebb and flow, sometimes moving with urgency and sometimes stuck in process and confusion. What’s important is that you’re clear about the steps you’re taking so you can celebrate your successes, pay attention to the areas that are difficult, and keep moving forward. Reference Okun, T. (2006). From white racist to white anti-racist: The life-long journey. Retrieved from Dismantling Racism Works (dRworks): http://www.dismantlingracism.org/Dismantling_Racism/links_files/whiteladder.pdf Evaluation 3 tips to revamp your approach to evaluating prevention work By Morgan J Curtis, Deputy Director Texas Association Against Sexual Assault Resources These tools help deepen your thinking and build your skills: Activity-based evaluation toolkit: tinyurl.com/taasa-toolkit Data analysis resource: tinyurl.com/NSVRC-pubs-listening (PHOTO: Morgan J Curtis holds a microphone while presenting the workshop “Beyond Pre/Post: Integrating Evaluation into Prevention Education” at the 2014 National Sexual Assault Conference in Pittsburgh.) While this brief article isn’t nearly enough to offer all of the tools you need to implement a reoriented approach to evaluating your work, these tips should get you started: 1. Think beyond pre/post-test Many of us start out by evaluating our programs with pre- and post-tests, because that’s what has always been done, or because that’s what funders have asked us to do. An accountability-oriented evaluation rarely seems to produce information that is meaningful to prevention workers, and they usually tell me that they have stacks and stacks of pre- and post-tests that they don’t have a clue how to use — beyond crunching numbers for grant reports. These numbers don’t often help us understand which aspects of our programming have had the largest impact and don’t help us make mid-course adjustments to improve our programing as we go. In addition to not producing useful or meaningful data that might inform program improvement, collecting data we can’t or won’t use also isn’t fair to the people we are serving. These evaluation tools are completed by real human beings who take their real time to (sometimes) give their real thoughts and opinions to someone who then isn’t able to do anything with them. In other words, there’s a human element to data that we often ignore. Fortunately, there are many ways to evaluate our work without pre-and post-testing that can produce meaningful answers to the most pressing questions we have about our work and how to improve it. 2. Think about data as a tool My grandfather owns a hardware store, and I grew up playing among the aisles upon aisles of tools. When I moved into my first apartment, my grandfather gave me a toolbox filled with the kinds of tools he thought would be useful in my daily life. Fifteen years later, I still find myself sorting through a mess of tools that I don’t know how to use while I try to find that one magical tool that I understand (a screwdriver). Much of the time, our data collection resembles this. We collect so much data that we can’t sift through what we don’t know how to use to find the nugget of useful information. Before collecting any kind of data, think about how you will use it. It can be helpful to answer the question “If I knew _____, then I could _____.” If you can’t identify a clear use for the data, don’t collect it (even if you’re really curious about it). 3. Collect data you can see/hear Existing data includes anything you can observe that might point to the success of your efforts. If you have a logic model (and I really hope you do), look at your outcomes and then ask yourself, “How will I know that change has occurred? What will be different about what I can see or hear?” Once you have answers to those questions (i.e., once you’ve identified indicators for your outcomes), think about which of those changes you can see or hear would be meaningful and relatively easy to collect. You or the participants can do this collection through direct observation within the classroom, school, or community in which you’re working. For example: You can observe the number of times participants interrupt sexist, racist, homophobic, or other problematic behaviors if that’s connected to one of your outcomes of interest. These observational methods focus on actual behavior change and can be relatively easy to collect and analyze. Involving participants in these efforts gives them opportunities to integrate learning and to have a voice in prevention efforts. You also can use the activities in your efforts by setting up simple tools to assess them. (See the Activity-Based Assessment resource for a complete guide on how to do that.) If the data that already exist around you don’t seem useful to your purposes or aren’t enough to answer your most pressing questions, consider other ways that you can build data collection opportunities that don’t involve pre- and post-tests. For example, can you make one of your activities a focus group? Discussing the impact of programming with the participants themselves can be a rich opportunity to understand the various ways people are implementing new behaviors in their own lives, and you can gauge the meaning of those changes for the participants. Working with words as data can seem daunting to some people, but it’s a skill that anyone can learn. (See the data analysis resource for more information.) Remember: Evaluation is supposed to create a feedback loop. After you’ve collected the data that you knew would be useful, use it. Figure out what the information you’ve collected tells you about the areas for growth and improvement and make changes accordingly. National Sexual Assault Conference 2014 ‘Many Voices, One Movement’ come together in Pittsburgh More than 1,000 people attended the National Sexual Assault Conference Aug. 20 to 22 at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown. The three-day event was co-sponsored by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, and the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Download handouts from the conference at www.nsvrc.org/nsac2014/handouts. The California Coalition Against Sexual Assault will host the 2015 National Sexual Assault Conference Sept. 2 to 4 in Los Angeles. (PHOTO COLLAGE: 1. Delilah Rumburg, CEO of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, welcomes everyone to the conference. 2. Lynn Rosenthal, the White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, addresses the crowd during the second day of the conference. 3. The downtown Pittsburgh skyline. 4. Eileen Recktenwald accepts the Gail Burns-Smith award from Karen Baker, Director of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. 5. Tonier “Neen” Cain gives a keynote address during the first day of the conference. 6. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania) speaks during the second day of the conference. 7. Fireworks light up downtown Pittsburgh. 8. A crowd gets ready for Zumba in the park, led by NSVRC Special Projects Assistant and Zumba instructor Taylor Teichman. 9. A journal entry in the conference’s Wellness Room. 10. The Monument Quilt, as seen from a hotel room window at the Wyndham Grand. Learn more about the quilt display here: upsettingrapeculture.com/) Cover Story: 20 Years of VAWA Happy birthday, VAWA A view from the trenches By Diane Moyer, Legal Director, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PHOTO: Vice President Joe Biden addresses a crowd at his home for the 20th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act in September.) It was 1998 and work on the second iteration of the Violence Against Women Act had begun. I was relatively new at my job as Legal Director at the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape. PCAR’s Board of Directors, comprised of executive directors from rape crisis centers, and my supervisor, Delilah Rumburg, granted me permission to be part of what was, at the time, a small group of advocates working to improve VAWA for victims and service providers. The job of advocates has and always will be to bring voices of the voiceless to the table, advocating for their rights and needs. I was drafted by Beverly Harris Elliot, the Director of what was then National Coalition Against Sexual Assault, an organization that held an annual national conference for anti-sexual violence advocates and had all of the trappings of a shout-and-hug grassroots experience. Elliot asked me to get down there because she didn’t have a lawyer. I like to think that I was chosen for my talent and abilities, but it probably had a lot to do with proximity and availability thanks to the backing of PCAR. I was one of two coalition attorneys in the country; the other was Lyn Scholett, now Executive Director of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Assault, who at the time worked for the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault. The meetings were held in a relatively small office shared by the National Organization for Women Legal Defense and Education Fund and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Pat Reuss was the unofficial Majority Whip of this band of sisters, and Juley Fulcher was the task master. I recall being especially intimidated by now Congresswoman Donna Edwards, who at the time was working with the National Network to End Domestic Violence. She stared at me from across the table; probably thinking, “What is this rookie doing here?” I had never drafted federal legislation before, but when Juley hands you a pen and legal pad and tells you to start writing, you just do it. (Yes, folks, we actually worked without laptops!) It is what I always tell new employees at PCAR: The great thing about working in the anti-sexual assault field is the opportunity to become the subject matter expert on evolving issues. Of course, it also is the hardest thing — but I leave that part out of the orientation. (PHOTOS: 1. Diane Moyer, right, of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, and Lisalyn R. Jacobs of Legal Momentum celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act in 2004. 2. Legal Director Diane Moyer, left, and PCAR Vice President of Public Relations Kristen Houser attend a celebration for the 20th anniversary of the VAWA in September.) My first duty was to draft the sexual assault provisions for the Civil Legal Assistance Grant. It seemed daunting at first, but my colleagues from domestic violence organizations were patient and helpful. I did not anticipate 12-hour days and having to start with the first word of the first VAWA and work forward, but it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. When I have had the opportunity to travel nationwide, hearing advocates say, “I was able to start a new rape crisis center in my town because of the Sexual Assault Services Program,” it is all worthwhile. However, for those looking to help work on VAWA, I caution you that before you get tired of the process, your supervisor and partner/family will get tired of it. Still, it is a risk worth taking. At first, I wondered why we had to start two years out to work on VAWA 2000, but it soon became clear that elected officials, agencies, and staffers also wanted to have input on what we often think of as “our” bill. Then-Sen. Joe Biden and his able staffer Louisa Terrell have made more robust the service provisions for victims and survivors of all backgrounds and orientations, and have given birth to state legislation that does the same. I am humbled to now be on the board of the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (co-founded by the fearless Gail Burns-Smith, who is no longer with us). Their commitment to VAWA and victims of sexual violence is unrelenting. I have since worked with many talented lawyers and advocates to ensure diversity and recognition of new challenges and opportunities to mitigate the impact of sexual violence, a life-altering event. Technology has ensured that every voice of every service provider can now be heard and represented. I am now in a position to recruit unsuspecting advocates to contribute to VAWA. Our struggle must be with a unified voice. Together, we can change the world and the social norms that contribute to sexual violence. The Violence Against Women Act: A Timeline 1994: With leadership by then-Sen. Joe Biden, Congress enacts VAWA 2000: First reauthorization creates dedicated funding for the prevention of sexual violence 2005: Second reauthorization creates dedicated funding for services for sexual assault survivors, prohibits the use of polygraphs with sexual assault victims, and requires that states pay for forensic examinations 2013: Third reauthorization broadens language to be inclusive of Native women, immigrant women and LGBTQ communities, plus expands housing protections for victims (PHOTO: Then-Sen. Joe Biden speaks during efforts to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act in 2000.) Q&A: Nina Burrowes 7 questions for a cartooning psychologist Online Read The courage to be me and more from Dr. Nina Burrowes at www.ninaburrowes.com. Watch her videos at tinyurl.com/sexual-abuse-questions. Follow Burrowes on Twitter @NinaBurrowes. The courage to be me is available for purchase on Amazon. By National Sexual Violence Resource Center Staff Dr. Nina Burrowes is a psychologist and researcher who specializes in the psychology of sexual abuse. She is the author of The courage to be me: A story of courage, self-compassion and hope after sexual abuse, an illustrated book that combines science and storytelling to help people understand life after sexual abuse. Here, she answers seven questions about her work to help survivors of sexual assault: Q: How did you become interested in helping survivors of sexual assault? A: I originally started my work in the area of sexual abuse with perpetrators. My job was to work with sex offenders, trying to understand why some of them continued to deny their offense and how we might be able to work with people so that they would not re-offend upon release from prison. Having spent some time with offenders, I wanted to learn about life for the victims of these crimes, so I began working with a local charity that supported survivors of abuse. Q: How did you come up with an idea to use cartooning to “help people understand people,” as you say on your website? A: It’s always seemed a shame to me that researchers can learn so much about a particular problem, or a particular group of people, but the knowledge we gain is generally kept in the academic literature. The people who really need that knowledge are the people who are living with that problem. Knowledge can be empowering. Being able to make sense of your own behavior for the first time in years can be life-changing. Having decided that I wanted to share my work with a much wider audience, the cartoons were a natural fit. I wanted to use a medium that was human, compassionate, and easy to understand. Using illustration and storytelling means that I am able to pass on really useful information and give my readers an experience. By the end of the book, you feel like you know these characters. You can empathize with them – which is part of the reason why people are able to connect with the book so well. Q: You give the option of reading your book for free or buying it on e-book or paperback. What is the reasoning behind that? Do you want it to be easily accessible for all readers? A: It was really important to me that the book could be read for free online. The people I have created it for may have safety issues around having a book like this in the home, they may not feel ready to walk into a book shop and buy a book of this nature, or they may be struggling financially. I do need the book to make money, because I want to be able to afford to make more books like this. But my hope is that enough people will choose to buy copies despite the fact that it is freely available online. For many people, this book has played a special role in their journey. Even if they initially read it for free online, I’m finding that people eventually want to own a copy. Q: Who should read your book on sexual abuse? Is it just for victims, or can everyone learn something from it? A: The primary audience for whom I created the book is people who are in the early stages of recovery from abuse, people who perhaps haven’t told anyone about what has happened to them. But I think the book can be useful for anyone who wants to understand life after sexual abuse. I’ve had partners, friends, and family members get in contact with me to say the book has helped them understand what the person they love is going through. The book also is being used to help train people who may come into contact with individuals who have experienced abuse. Q: How can people suffering from trauma use art to help them heal? A: I think the arts are a massively therapeutic tool that we need to use more. There will always be a role for talking therapy, but some people are able to connect more with drawing, painting, dance, or creative writing. The arts can help you find a way of expressing yourself when you simply don’t have the words to describe how you feel. They can give you a new language and a new way of making sense of yourself and the world. I also think that simply “creating” something can be useful – to see something that you have conceived, created, and can display or give to someone else. The arts have much to tell us about our humanity. As a psychologist, art is one of my greatest teachers. Q: This kind of work can get heavy at times. How do you unwind? A: I originally began drawing as a way of unwinding from my work. I was working on a big project about perpetrators and wanted to boost my normal levels of self-care. So I picked up some pencils and began learning how to draw. I find drawing incredibly relaxing. My cartoons also bring out my sense of humor. I often giggle to myself when I’m cartooning. However, generally speaking I’m not very good at “unwinding.” My mind likes to stay active. I’ve found balance in my life by spending about half my time thinking about the psychology of sexual abuse and the other half thinking about any other type of psychology that grabs my interest. It doesn’t feel like work to me. It feels like fun. Q: Is there anything else you’d like the anti-sexual violence movement to know? A: The courage to be me was the first installment of a body of work I have planned. My next major piece of work on sexual abuse will be an online video series. The videos will be free to view, and I hope individuals and organizations who work in the sector will find them useful (and refreshing). I’m also turning The courage to be me into a play. (Editor's note: View Nina's videos here: tinyurl.com/sexual-abuse-questions) Coalition Spotlight In Washington Child sexual abuse: Moving from awareness to prevention By Kat Monusky, Prevention Program Coordinator, and Logan Micheel, Child Advocacy Specialist Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs Details The Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs (WCSAP) is comprised of more than 100 sexual assault/crisis programs and supporting members, and 13 staff members. Its mission is to unite agencies engaged in the elimination of sexual violence, through education, advocacy, victim services, and social change. Learn more about WCSAP at www.wcsap.org. In the past three years, the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs (WCSAP) has prioritized the issue of child sexual abuse prevention. We discovered there is a gap in child sexual abuse primary prevention models, so we explored what it would take to promote this approach in our state. Through a statewide survey, focus groups, and conversations with sexual assault service providers, we learned that most programs in Washington had a specific interest in addressing child sexual abuse and see this as a significant issue in their communities. Yet programs were struggling to differentiate between child sexual abuse awareness and primary prevention. They shared that funding, curricula, and training were the most important factors in moving their efforts forward. WCSAP identified the Where We Live curriculum (www.pcar.org/special-initiatives) created by Pittsburgh Action Against Rape as a promising primary prevention approach and developed a pilot project to support its implementation. The project launched in July 2013 with four communities and is in the second year with five community programs. Project sites represent the diversity of Washington state, and include programs in rural and urban areas, a tribal community, and a program for deaf and deafblind communities. In addition to providing statewide training on Where We Live to all interested programs, WCSAP provides comprehensive assistance to selected project sites to support their implementation of the curriculum. This includes funding, training, one-on-one support, and peer networking spaces. Small grants primarily support incentive costs, such as child care, meals, and transportation — in addition to programmatic costs such as advertising and training supplies. One of the primary goals of this project is to assess the effectiveness of the curriculum across our state and the value of broadening its utilization. To this end, WCSAP contracted with expert Dr. Stephanie Townsend to analyze the pre- and post-test surveys completed by program participants and to provide a statewide evaluation of the project. Townsend’s analysis provided evidence that the workshops were successful in achieving some of the major curriculum goals. This is seen most evidently in the high participant satisfaction ratings, significant change in risk assessments that indicated participants became better at distinguishing between innocuous and risky situations, significant increases in the likelihood of intervening in risky situations by talking with the adult in question and/or talking with the children, and significant increases in adults talking with children about safety and privacy. Additionally, curriculum facilitators valued Where We Live’s four-session structure and its design that holds adults, rather than children, responsible for preventing child sexual abuse. Facilitators shared that as a result of their work on this project, they are strengthening their overall community relationships, seeing an increase in community members’ engagement with other agency services, and having more meaningful conversations about child sexual abuse prevention. This initiative is the first of its kind in Washington and is part of WCSAP’s continuing efforts to be a leader in a comprehensive response to child sexual abuse that includes strong intervention, awareness, and primary prevention efforts. The statewide response to this initiative has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are excited to continue to expand this great work. WCSAP is grateful for the ongoing collaboration with PAAR, the curriculum authors. For more information on this project, evaluation findings, and other prevention resources please view the Prevention Special Editions at tinyurl.com/prevention-spec or contact kat@wcsap.org or logan@wcsap.org. (PHOTO: The Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs partnered with YWCA of Clark County and SAGE (Safety Advocacy Growth Empowerment) to present a training on the Where We Live curriculum. Pictured from left are Kat Monusky, Traci Cole, Jessica Johnson, and Logan Micheel.) Coalition Spotlight In Kentucky Green Dot works to prevent sexual violence in high schools By Eileen Recktenwald, Ann L. Coker, Heather M. Bush, Patricia Cook-Craig, and Emily R. Clear Online: For more about Green Dot and the research study, go to www.livethegreendot.com and vimeo.com/23589940 Details: Green Dots are infectious agents. Students and adults learn positive ways to keep each other safe. They challenge behaviors like bullying or sexual harassment that might lead to sexual violence. The Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs In 2005, the Violence Against Women Act changed the focus of Rape Prevention Education funds from awareness to primary prevention. The Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs (KASAP), engaged with a new partner, the Department for Public Health, to try to prevent sexual violence before it occurred. We were not at all sure that this was possible. But we had to try. From 2005-08, we conducted the EMPOWER Project and formed a State Prevention Team with the help of funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We developed a 14-goal state prevention plan to reduce the perpetration of sexual violence, which included finding an effective strategy. The KASAP Board made an unprecedented decision to test one strategy — the Green Dot bystander training program — statewide, which had never before been done by any state. We began a randomized intervention trial with the University of Kentucky to evaluate the effectiveness of Green Dot. A “green dot” is a learned behavior by a bystander that can change an individual student’s risk of violence and change a culture that might accept violence as inevitable. Red dots are behaviors that contribute to violence in schools and communities. If there are more people performing tasks that qualify as green dots than there are contributing to red dots, violence is reduced. Twenty six high schools in Kentucky participated in the study. Control schools took surveys measuring violence, while “intervention” schools received an informational speech and education of student leaders. Data was collected over five years to measure the frequency of violence perpetration and victimization. We also measured students’ acceptance of sexual violence, their engagement with others in active bystander behaviors, and whether they received Green Dot bystander training. Does Green Dot Reduce Violence Perpetration? Green Dot drastically reduced sexual violence perpetration (by 60 percent in intervention schools) and total violence perpetration (by 40 percent in intervention schools). Future steps These findings strongly suggest that Green Dot is an effective way for us to reduce sexual violence, sexual harassment, stalking, and dating violence. We have a newfound hope that preventing sexual violence is possible. For more information, contact KASAP at www.kasap.org. Want to spotlight your coalition? Tell us about the great prevention work being done in your state, and it could become an article in an upcoming edition. Email us at resources@nsvrc.org. (PHOTO: Pictured are Jane Beshear, Kentucky’s first lady; Diane Follingstad of the University of Kentucky; Eileen Recktenwald, Executive Director of the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs, Ann Coker of the University of Kentucky, and University of Kentucky President Dr. Eli Capilouto.) Tech Roundup Tutorial teaches university’s students about sexual assault By Christine Fiore and Elizabeth Hubble The University of Montana Online: Learn more about PETSA (Personal Empowerment Through Self Awareness) at www.umt.edu/petsa (PHOTO: A screen grab from the PETSA app shows silhouettes around a table with the word “CONSENT” on it.) PETSA (Personal Empowerment Through Self Awareness) is the University of Montana’s mandatory online sexual assault prevention tutorial for all students. University faculty, staff, and students created PETSA during the summer of 2012 in response to media attention and a federal investigation of the school’s handling of sexual assault reports. PETSA relies on an understanding of sexual assault as a public health issue, and its goal is to educate students about: a) what sexual assault is and how and when it can happen; b) how to reduce the risk of being assaulted and of assaulting; c) how to become an active bystander; d) how to challenge prevailing victim-blaming attitudes by being an agent of social change; and e) how to access campus- and community-based victim services. In the summer of 2012, two University of Montana faculty members wrote scripts, and media and graphic arts students transformed those scripts into seven short, powerful videos with additional mini videos featuring university students talking about particularly difficult topics. PETSA was created using evidence-based research on sexual assault prevention and has subsequently been revised based on feedback from students, the Department of Justice, and the Office of Violence against Women. In the fall of 2012, almost 14,000 students took PETSA, and they provided more than 2,000 comments and ideas that were subsequently used to make the online experience better for future students. To date, more than 20,000 University of Montana students have taken PETSA, and the feedback from the anonymous survey provided evidence of a 73 percent to 76 percent positive rating. In addition to being based on best practices in sexual assault prevention education, PETSA was designed specifically to meet the needs of the campus and community. While this might make it challenging for other universities to use PETSA, this model provides a framework for how to tailor mandatory violence prevention education to a campus’s specific circumstances. The tutorial teaches students about relevant university policies and Montana state law, and uses University of Montana faculty, staff, and students throughout. Students must complete the tutorial before registering for the second semester of coursework. The university's registrar places a hold on their account until completion. The first year (2012-13), every registered student had to complete PETSA. Since then, only new and transfer students (including graduate students) have been required to do so. Currently, PETSA is supported by a designated Instructor of Record who is a faculty member in the Women’s and Gender Studies department. Further technical and administrative support is provided by our Coordinated Campus Response Team, the University Council on Student Assault, and UMOnline student staff. For anyone interested in learning more about implementing or administering PETSA or similar programs, please contact petsa@umontana.edu. New iPhone app launches for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner programs (PHOTO: a screen grab of the homepage of the SANE Sustainability mobile app with teal icons and title headings for each section of the app) A new iPhone app has been released for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program managers. Designed to help managers learn more about program sustainability, the app provides practical tools to use during daily operations. Created by the International Association of Forensic Nurses and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, the app is based on best practices from almost a decade of training and technical assistance on this subject. In addition to a glossary, the app contains information and tips on such topics as program creation and expansion, budgeting, funding, billing, assessment, evaluation, and policies. Content for the app was written by Jenifer Markowitz and Jennifer Pierce Weeks. SANE programs provide a specialized response for patients after sexual assault. With appropriate education, SANE-trained clinicians have the capacity to attend to medical forensic needs of sexual assault patients. The app was funded by the Office on Violence Against Women. Get the App Available from the App Store, or scan this QR code to download. Spread the word on social media: #SANEsustainability. Check the SANE Sustainability Blog for updates: tinyurl.com/SANE-blog From the Library A Systematic Review of Primary Prevention Strategies for Sexual Violence Perpetration By Sarah DeGue, Linda Anne Valle, Melissa K. Holt, Greta M. Massetti, Jennifer L. Matjasko, and Andra Teten Tharp (PHOTO: blue and yellow article cover of the review with the title Agression and Violent Behavior) There is high demand for evidence-based strategies to prevent sexual violence before it starts. However, little comprehensive information has been available about what works to prevent sexually violent behavior. To address this gap, the authors systematically reviewed 30 years of evaluation research to describe the current state of the field in sexual violence primary prevention and to identify strategies with the best available research evidence. The authors analyzed 140 outcome evaluations of primary prevention strategies for sexual violence perpetration. Among other things, they wanted to see if studies used a rigorous evaluation design and measured effects on sexually violent behavior. Based on these factors, interventions were categorized as effective, not effective, potentially harmful, in need of more research, or as having insufficient evidence for preventing sexual violence perpetration. The authors emphasize that more and better research is needed. Future research will identify additional effective strategies and reveal whether promising programs are effective across different populations and settings. They also highlight other key trends in the research. For example, prevention strategies that achieved their intended outcomes were about two to three times longer than other programs. This paper can help preventionists select or develop prevention strategies based on the best available research evidence, and strengthen and evaluate their current prevention efforts. Read Key Findings from "A Systematic Review of Primary Prevention Strategies for Sexual Violence Perpetration," a research translation from NSVRC, at tinyurl.com/NSVRC-research-translation. – Written by Annie Gebhardt, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center Online: Access a copy of this article and other research included in Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume 19, Issue 4, at tinyurl.com/primary-prevention-review. Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization —National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States, 2011 By Matthew J. Breiding, Sharon G. Smith, Kathleen C. Basile, Mikel L. Walters, Jieru Chen, and Melissa T. Merrick (PHOTO: cover of the article that has the title and a photo collage of five adults both male and female) This report examines sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization using National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) data from 2011. It describes the overall prevalence of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization; racial/ethnic variation in prevalence; how types of perpetrators vary by violence type; and the age at which victimization typically begins. For intimate partner violence, the report also examines a range of negative impacts experienced as a result of victimization, including the need for services. This 2011 data finds that in the U.S., an estimated 19.3 percent of women and 1.7 percent of men have been raped during their lifetimes; an estimated 1.6 percent of women reported that they were raped in the 12 months preceding the survey. The case count for men reporting rape in the preceding 12 months was too small to produce a statistically reliable prevalence estimate. An estimated 43.9 percent of women and 23.4 percent of men experienced other forms of sexual violence during their lifetimes, including being made to penetrate, sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, and noncontact unwanted sexual experiences. The percentages of women and men who experienced these other forms of sexual violence victimization in the 12 months preceding the survey were an estimated 5.5 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively. — Written by NSVRC staff The Use of the Creative Therapies with Sexual Abuse Survivors By Stephanie L. Brooke (PHOTO: Book cover) As far as helpful tools for advocates go, I would rate this among the top on my list. This book covers the ways in which advocates and counselors can broaden listening skills to survivors’ experiences. Through working with survivors of sexual violence, we know that a one-size-fits-all approach does not work. To meet the survivor where they are, we need ways in which we can engage them to create a safe place to communicate their experiences. This book has practical exercises that can be used to start that dialogue, as well as research to back up such techniques. I think this book would be best used as a menu rather than as a prescriptive tool — one that we can offer survivors through our practice to meet their needs. — Written by Eric Stiles, The National Sexual Violence Resource Center Recommend a resource Have you read a recent book or report that you’d like to share? Email your suggestions to resources@nsvrc.org and your suggestion could be reviewed in an upcoming issue of The Resource. Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Coming Up Let’s use 2015 SAAM campaign to create safer college campuses The topic of campus sexual violence has received national attention in the news in recent months. From the White House to local news outlets and universities, the reality of the rates of sexual assault committed against college students confirms a need for working together in prevention and response. Many advocates from campuses and communities have been working to address this issue for decades, and new legislation and guidelines are directing campuses in creating safe and responsive environments. Student and survivor voices are asking for accountability and change. It is a critical time to take action. This April, the national Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) campaign will focus on campus sexual violence prevention. The goal of SAAM 2015 is to support campuses in creating a culture of prevention and effective, trauma-informed response. Everyone has a role to play in creating safer campuses. It’s time to act to create learning environments where all are engaged in prevention. The 2015 SAAM campaign will serve as a toolkit for community advocates, campus personnel, students, and allies. This campaign will help build and improve campus prevention work by engaging the entire community. Materials also will engage individuals and communities in taking steps to create positive change to end sexual assault. The prevention of sexual violence on campus involves many voices and roles. Comprehensive prevention requires partners at every level to take action. It means working with individuals, talking about healthy relationships, creating campus-wide resources, programs and policy, and seeing these efforts as a part of broader social change. SAAM 2015 is an invitation to join these efforts and use your voice to play a role in creating change. Details Theme: It’s Time to Act. Safer Campuses. Brighter Futures. Prevent Sexual Violence. Online: Materials will be available in English and Spanish by January 2015 at ww.nsvrc.org/saam. Follow NSVRC on social media or on the SAAM blog (nsvrc.org/blogs/saam) for campaign updates. Email resources@nsvrc.org if you'd like to receive SAAM materials by mail. We’re turning 15 & you’re invited to celebrate (PHOTO: Cupcake with a lit birthday candle.) We want to hear from you Next year, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) will celebrate 15 years of service. As part of this milestone, we want to look at the progress we have made in services and prevention, and highlight some of the great work that is happening. We’d love to hear from our allies at state coalitions. By sharing your comments, you’ll allow NSVRC to use your stories for anniversary events throughout 2015. To lend your voice, we’re asking you to answer the following three questions: 1. What has been the biggest improvement in resources and/or services related to sexual violence since 2000? 2. Looking back, what partnerships have had the most impact on your work? 3. In the past 15 years, what new prevention initiatives have you adopted and how have they strengthened your work? Answer online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NSVRCAnniversary. P.S. In addition to your comments, if you send NSVRC a high-resolution copy of your logo (300 DPI, .jpg format) we can feature it online, as well. Please email your logos to tcox@nsvrc.org Thank you for the crucial work you’re doing. We look forward to sharing your stories. NSVRC National Sexual Violence Resource Center 123 North Enola Drive Enola, PA 17025 Toll Free: (877) 739-3895 Email: resources@nsvrc.org On Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Youtube, and Pinterest Greetings from Los Angeles, California Save the date: National Sexual Assault Conference September 2-4, 2015 Conferencia Nacional De Asalto Sexual Septiembre 2-4. 2015 Guide Linking the Roads: Working with Youth Who Experience Homelessness & Sexual Violence Read more: www.nsvrc.org/publications (With infographic: Homeless Youth & Sexual Violence) Join us in April for Sexual Assault Awareness Month It’s Time to Act. Safer Campuses. Brighter Futures. Prevent Sexual Violence. www.nsvrc.org/saam © 2014 National Sexual Violence Resource Center. All rights reserved.