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Immigrant Victims of Sexual Assault Introduction to Immigrant Victims Specialized information and training is required of SARTs to serve any victim population. Victims of sexual assault who are immigrants are no different. SARTs that receive specific training and develop protocols and policies on responding to immigrant victims will improve outcomes for sexual assault survivors and...

Harrisburg, PA – The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) and the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) are pleased to honor Joann Schladale with the 2018 Gail-Burns Smith Award. Schladale, a licensed marriage and family therapist who specializes in sexual health, trauma, violence prevention and sexual behavior problems, will receive the award...

Gender and Sexual Identity “When we’re thinking about addressing the needs of the victims and survivors, it’s really important we do not gender the term victim. The minute you start saying victim, she, victim, she, then you are shutting down a huge group of folks out there — male-identified people, trans and gender non-conforming folks...

Victims Who Have Disabilities Most people will experience a disability at some point in their lives. The disability could be — permanent, something an individual was born with or acquired early in life; temporary, such as a broken leg; connected to aging, such as hearing or vision loss; the result of a disease, such as...

Cultural and Ethnic Communities SARTs should consider racial justice critical in addressing and ending sexual violence. Committing to racial justice propels sexual violence prevention work forward and helps to dismantle power imbalances that have long existed in the United States. SARTs should commit to using their power and privilege to ensure that the needs of...

Meeting Needs for Language Assistance Providers The diversity of demographics and languages among the American population has important implications for SARTs. Victims of sexual assault may have limited English proficiency, be Deaf or hard-of-hearing, or have sensory or communication disabilities. According to 2011 Census data, approximately 21 percent of Americans ages 5 years and older...

Cultural Responsiveness Victim-centered SART responses need to provide competent, culturally relevant, and responsive care. SARTs and member organizations can choose from a variety of trainings based in cultural competency or cultural responsiveness. The concept of “cultural competency” often includes a well-meaning but misguided notion that service providers can reach some predetermined level of expertise in...

Culture and Diversity Part of providing a victim-centered, trauma-informed response is serving the person reporting a crime as a unique individual with distinct cultural, language, and experiential perspectives and realities. Given the goal of SARTs to improve systems’ responses to sexual assault, all team members need to respect the culture and diversity of all victims....

The Winter 2018 edition of The Resource discusses where the anti-sexual violence movement can go in the wake of the #MeToo movement. In addition, The Resource features: Lessons learned from the Sexual Assault Demonstration Initiative The Texas Association Against Sexual Assault’s workshop for people of color working in the movement The Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s new digital infrastructure...