In June 2017, comedian Bill Cosby will stand trial for aggravated indecent assault of a woman in his Montgomery County home more than a decade ago. The following fact sheet provides important context on sexual violence, including victim behavior and trauma, offender dynamics, and the use of drugs and alcohol to perpetrate sexual violence, to...

The guidance, through a series of detailed case examples, advises law enforcement agencies to incorporate the following principles into clear policies, comprehensive training and effective supervision protocols: Recognize and address biases, assumptions and stereotypes about victims. Treat all victims with respect and employ interviewing tactics that encourage a victim to participate and provide facts about...

This publication explores how sexual violence is portrayed in the news and considers the implications of these portrayals for prevention advocates and journalists interested in discussing not just the details of sexual violence, but also how to end it. The findings lay the foundation for ongoing work to define more effective messages about sexual violence...

Sexual violence can result in many health, economic, and social struggles in the lives of survivors. This resource highlights findings from a 2015 study on sexual violence against Latina women. Findings can help strengthen our prevention and response strategies with Latin@ communities. In Spanish. Publish Date June 2015

This practitioner focused report of findings from a national research project on Sexual Assault Response Team functioning and effectiveness. The full version of the technical research report to the National Institute of Justice is available online.Scientific publications of the data in peer-reviewed journals with full methodological details are also available. Publish Date May 2015

  This fact sheet from the National Insitute of Justice outlines what research has told us about sexual assault kits: 1. No one knows the number of kits nationwide that have not been submitted for testing. 2. Little is known about the age of unsubmitted kits. 3. Submitting a kit to a crime lab does...

This report provides research results about Houston’s victim notification process. In Houston, victim notification involves reestablishing contact with victims whose cases are reopened for investigation as a result of a match in the law enforcement database Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), from victims’ recently tested sexual assault kits (SAKs).This action research assesses the implementation of...

This report includes research on creating victim notification protocols.  Six major themes emerged from survey respondents regarding the process of developing and implementing the Protocols. They include: 1)Strategic planning, 2) Organizational support, 3) Active partnerships, 4) Resources, 5) Outreach, and 6)Victim-centered approach. Of the six themes, researchers identified the victim-centered approach as significant to the...

This report describes research on victim and professional perspectives on the delivery of victim notification procedures, implementation of new victim notification processes, victim engagement within the criminal justice system, and recommendations for improvements. Victims and professionals made five recommendations. Law enforcement should not assume that a victim does or does not want to be notified....

A new report describes findings about unsubmitted sexual assault kits in Wayne County (Detroit), Michigan. A multidisciplinary team investigated the situation and found a number of effective and sustainable responses and ways to prevent the problem from recurring. The team found several underlying “risk factors” that contributed to the large quantity of unsubmitted SAKs in...