AEquitas Attorney Advisors Jonathan Kurland and Patti Powers presented “Trauma Informed Interviewing,” “Overcoming the Consent Defense” and “Reaching a Verdict” on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General of Iowa to audiences in Council Bluffs, Des Moines, and Iowa City.
Human Trafficking Training
AEquitas Attorney Advisor Jane Anderson delivered a series of presentations, including but not limited to human trafficking, witness intimidation, and implementing a trauma informed approach Commonwealth Trading Partners in San Antonio, Texas for an audience of corrections personnel, court personnel, government agency staff, human trafficking program staff, law enforcement officers, and prosecutors.
International Visitor Leadership Program: Cabo Verde
AEquitas met with a group of international visitors from Cabo Verde as part of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program for their program “Fighting Sexual Gender Based Violence and Sexual Violence Against Children.”
Law Enforcement Response to and Investigation of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking
AEquitas Attorney Advisor Jane Anderson and SPARC Director Jennifer Landhuis delivered a series of presentations delivered a series of presentations on domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking on behalf of the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to an audience of law enforcement officers.
Best Practices Training
AEquitas Attorney Advisor Jane Anderson presented on “Special Issues for Prosecutors Certifications and Discovery” and “Human Trafficking & T Visas” on behalf of the National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP) in Morrow, Georgia to an audience including sexual assault/domestic violence program staff, law enforcement and prosecutors.
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.
National Training Institute on Protection Order Practice for Attorneys and Advocates
SPARC Director Jennifer Landhuis presented “Working with Victims of Stalking in Protection Order” at on behalf of the National Center on Protection Orders and Full Faith & Credit to an audience of dual sexual assault/domestic violence program staff.
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.
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.
