Advocates and Community Partners Celebrate the First

Anniversary of the Gail Burns-Smith Sexual Assault Forensic

Examiners Program

On January 26, sexual assault forensic examiners, hospital employees, sexual assault victim advocates, criminal justice officials, and community partners gathered for a reception to mark the one year anniversary of the State of Connecticut, Judicial Branch, Office of Victim Services, Gail Burns-Smith Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners Program (SAFE Program). The SAFE Program is an innovative victim services program that provides participating hospitals with 24/7 access to sexual assault forensic examiners (SAFEs), healthcare providers who are specially trained to provide care to adult and adolescent victims and use “rape kits” to collect forensic evidence. Participating hospitals include: Hartford Hospital, The Hospital of Central Connecticut (New Britain campus), Manchester Memorial Hospital, Middlesex Hospital, Saint Francis Hospital, and Windham Hospital.

CONNSACS Executive Director Laura Cordes, who helped advocate for the establishment of the program, praised the work of the SAFEs. “Rape victims deserve the best standard of care, and SAFEs are providing it,” she said. “When SAFEs and advocates are utilized together, victims are more likely to feel supported and believe that undergoing the invasive evidence collection process will prove helpful in successfully prosecuting their offenders.” 

The SAFE Program provides care in a way that benefits both sexual assault victims and participating hospitals. Typically, victims wait in emergency departments for several hours before a physician or nurse becomes available to set aside several hours to provide care for the patient and complete the evidence collection process. In many cases, healthcare providers are not very familiar with the process which may lengthen the time that the victim remains in the emergency department.   

“Everyone loves the SAFE Program. Not only does the program provide expert standardized care to this highly specialized population of patients, it also frees up emergency care providers to serve other patients,” said Patti LaMonica, Executive Director of Emergency Services at Saint Francis Hospital. “The care provided by SAFEs also extends beyond the patient’s visit as they can later provide expert testimony in court.  It is a win-win for everyone.”  

The event was attended by State Senator Terry Gerratana (D - Berlin, Farmington, New Britain), Senate Chair of the Committee on Public Health. Senator Gerratana took time to meet the advocates and nurses involved in the program and expressed her thanks for having the SAFE Program available in her district.

State Representative Betsy Ritter (D-Waterford and Montville), House Chair of the Committee on Public Health, who advanced legislation to create the program in 2009, was unable to attend the event but prepared a statement saying, “This program helps victims overcome the horrors of sexual assault and provide justice to survivors.” Between the launch of the program on December 1, 2010 and the end of 2011, “163 victims were provided timely, compassionate, patient-centered services that begin with the victim and include all the steps necessary to collect evidence that is valid, admissible, and accompanied with needed expert testimony.” 

“The SAFE Program is a vital service for victims,” said Maureen Platt, State’s Attorney for the Waterbury Judicial District and Chair of the Commission on the Standardization of the Collection of Evidence in Sexual Assault Investigations. “In addition to providing sexual assault victims with an excellent standard of care, forensic examiners also collect high-quality evidence that can later be used for criminal prosecution.”   

 

The SAFE Program is federally

funded through Recovery Act Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) and a Recovery Act STOP Violence Against Women (VAW) Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice award to the State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management. The VAW grant ended in December of 2011, and the JAG grant ends in February of 2013.  

Advocates and supporters hope that the SAFE Program’s success will result in continued funding and an eventual expansion to hospitals statewide. Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services and other SAFE Program supporters plan to advocate for state funding during the upcoming legislative session.

 

January Was Stakling Awareness Month

Recently released data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that approximately 1 in 6 women and 1 in 19 men in the U.S. have experienced stalking that caused them to feel fearful or to believe that they or someone close to them would be hurt or killed. January was Stalking Awareness Month, making now an ideal time to learn more about this crime that has impacted more than 25 million Americans.  

Legal definitions of stalking vary from state to state, but a good general definition is: a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. Stalkers use variety methods to frighten and intimidate their victims, and many stalkers engage in a varied course of conduct - this means they may follow their victim one day, track them with GPS the following day, and send an unwanted gift the day after that. Regardless of what behavior stalkers use, their repetitive, unwanted actions causes victims to fear for their personal safety, the safety of their friends and loved ones, and the safety of their property. The Stalking Resource Center has excellent information and resources about stalking and Stalking Awareness Month, including a nice fact sheet.  

Connecticut passed its stalking laws in 1992, but they have not been updated or revised since that time. The current laws restrict stalking behaviors to "wilfully and repeatedly follow(ing) or (lying) in wait" for a victim, which means that many dangerous stalking behaviors (tracking with GPS, sending repeated texts or emails, leaving unwanted gifts, etc.) are not covered. The weakness of Connecticut's stalking laws puts victims and their families in danger, and CONNSACS believes that the state's stalking statutes should be updated to reflect the myriad tools and methods that stalkers use to harm their victims.  

Last year, CONNSACS worked with Representative Mae Flexer to advocate for updates to Connecticut's stalking statutes. While our efforts in 2011 were not successful, we intend to pursue similar legislation again in 2012. We are hopeful that legislators will learn more about this frightening crime and take action to better protect victims. Check back to our website in mid-February for more information about stalking legislation and how you can get involved in legislative advocacy. If you are interested in learning more about stalking legislation or sharing a story about how stalking impacted your life, please contact Anna Doroghazi, Director of Public Policy and Communication: anna@connsacs.org

 

Child Sexual Abuse at Penn State and Syracuse University

In recent weeks, allegations of child sexual abuse at Penn State and Syracuse University have grabbed headlines throughout the country. Hearing about sexual violence in the media can be a difficult experience for survivors and their loved ones, especially given the similarities between many high-profile cases and assaults that happen every day in out communities. If you or someone you know feels triggered by news of the Penn State case, the Syracuse case, or other abuse, victim advocates from Connecticut's nine sexual assault crisis services programs are available every hour of every day at 888-999-5545 (English) and 999-568-8332 (Español).

 

The news unfolding at these schools illustrates many of the things that we already know to be true about rape, child predators, and bystander behavior. It isn't every day that allegations of child sexual abuse lead to the end of a storied coaching careers, but it is every day - literally every day - that children, women, and men are victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence. The actions of Jerry Sandusky (the former Penn State assistant football coach who is accused of sexually abusing at least eight young boys) and Bernie Fine (the former Syracuse assistant basketball coach who is accused of molesting three boys) are horrific, but they are not an anomaly. What makes these stories unique is not that they happened but that we heard about them. Sexual violence is a crime that thrives in silence; many survivors never disclose their victimization because they are embarrassed, ashamed, afraid, or worried that they will not be believed, in part because of threats or lies told to them by their offenders. When they do disclose, they are often shamed into silence. We should be mindful of the fact that the Sandusky and Fine cases did not come to our attention because sexual abuse is an aberration. We are aware of these stories because they involve famed athletics programs.  

Jerry Sandusky and Bernie Fine are not the first (alleged) sex offenders to use their power, influence, and "do good" image to reach victims. Despite our cultural perception that sex offenders are strangers or degenerates who hide in dark alleys, many pedophiles gain access to children by presenting themselves to parents and community leaders as trustworthy, admirable, and safe. It is difficult and painful to acknowledge that the people we love and respect can sometimes commit horrific crimes, but our admiration for a person does not make them immune from bad decisions or hurtful actions.

The Penn State and Syracuses cases have also drawn attention to the role that bystanders can play in responding to and preventing sexual violence. Mike McQueary, the 6'4" graduate assistant who allegedly turned his back and walked away when he witnessed Sandusky raping a ten year-old in a locker room, has been widely criticized for his failure to stop the assault and call police. Similiarly, Bernie Fine's wife, Laurie, allegedly admitted to knowing about her husbands offenses in a telephone call that was taped in 2002. She, like McQueary, did not appropriately intervene. While the actions of these two individuals are inexcusable, they are not unusual. Few people will ever be in a position to physically interevene while an assault is in progress, but opportunities to exercise good bystander behavior exist every day. Good bystanders can, for example: 

• Recognize and speak out against sexism, racism, homophobia, and other attitudes that contribute to violence. 
• Intervene when a friend indicates that they will use alcohol to take advantage of someone.
• Believe victims when they disclose and support survivors rather than minimize their experience or shame them into silence. 
• Find a way to safely intervene if they witness an assault that is in progress. 

CONNSACS and the nine community-based sexual assault crisis services programs throughout Connecticut are saddened but not surprised by the news of adults protecting their individual and institutional reputations at the expense of children's safety. We know that while the Penn State and Syracuse stories have garnered nationwide attention, they are very similar to thousands of other stories unfolding across the country. We also know that this can change - we can build a world that is free of sexual violence through education and advocacy. Every day, victim advocates throughout Connecticut provide trainings within their communities and support survivors of sexual violence. If you would like to request a training or learn more about the advocacy services that are available throughout the state, contact your local sexual assault crisis services program.