Technology and Advocacy Statewide Training

SPARC Director Jennifer Landhuis and Retired Sgt. Mark Kurkowski presented  series of presentations including, but not limited to, “Stalking Prevalence, Dynamics and Behaviors,” “The Intersection of Stalking, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault” and “The Use of Technology to Stalk” on behalf of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence (FCADV) in Clearwater, Florida. 

Advancing Strategies for a Safe and Healthy Community

AEquitas Attorney Patti Powers presented “Alcohol Facilitated Sexual Assault: Who Needs Force When You Have Alcohol?” and “Getting to ‘Guilty’: Guiding the Jury’s Response to the Evidence” on behalf of The Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence (GCWCFN) in Biloxi, Mississippi to an audience of dual sexual assault/domestic violence program staff, law enforcement officers, mental health professionals, prosecutors and victim-witness specialists. 

Alcohol- and Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault: A Survey of the Law

While the absence of laws covering the assault of a voluntarily intoxicated victim is often cited as a barrier to prosecuting sexual assault cases, the laws in all 58 U.S. jurisdictions allow for the prosecution of sexual assault cases in which the victim was voluntarily intoxicated. The language in some statutes, however, may not always include the assaultive conduct relevant to a specific case. Additionally, some sexual assault statutes do include an element requiring the victim’s intoxication to be caused by a perpetrator, without the victim’s knowledge, for the purpose of perpetrating a sexual assault. Because language among these statutes is not consistent and may not specifically refer to intoxicated victims, this Statutes in Review synthesizes the similarities and distinctions among the statutory language and summarizes AEquitas’ more comprehensive analysis of rape and sexual assault laws covering alcohol- and drug -facilitated sexual assault involving penetration in all jurisdictions in the country.

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Witness Intimidation

We have developed two individual resources related to witness intimidation. One is a collection of state statutes that includes laws such as those expressly prohibiting witness intimidation, harassment, perjury, retaliation, bribery, false reporting,and tampering with witnesses or evidence.

The second is a compilation of case summaries provides insight into the dynamics and prosecution of witness intimidation, harassment, perjury, retaliation, bribery, false reporting,and tampering with witnesses or evidence.