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Foundations of Sexual Violence Prosecutions: Collaboration is Key: Working with Victim Service Professionals

This webinar is part of a 10-episode podcast-style series focused on the foundational elements of prosecuting sexual violence cases. In each episode, AEquitas Attorney Advisor Jane Anderson engages in conversations with other AEquitas staff, former prosecutors with years of experience prosecuting sexual violence. 

In this episode, Jane and Attorney Advisor Jonathan Kurland discuss the benefits of collaboration with victim service professionals in sexual violence cases. They discuss the questions prosecutors can ask to better understand the roles and responsibilities of victim service professionals in their communities, common tension points, and how collaboration can be strengthened to enhance the case as well as victims’ safety and healing.

At the conclusion of this episode, viewers will be better able to:
– Enhance collaboration with victim service professionals
– Provide survivors with meaningful access to appropriate victim services
– Ethically protect victim privacy

Additional resources related to this episode:
– Presence of Victim Advocate During Sexual Assault Exam: Summary of State Laws
– To Record or Not To Record: Use of Body-Worn Cameras During Police Response to Crimes of Violence Against Women
– Benefits of a Coordinated Community Response to Sexual Violence

 

This project was supported by Grant No. 15JOVW-21-GK-02220-MUMU awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice.

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Foundations of Sexual Violence Prosecutions: Collaboration is Key: Working with Law Enforcement

This webinar is part of a 10-episode podcast-style series focused on the foundational elements of prosecuting sexual violence cases. In each episode, AEquitas Attorney Advisor Jane Anderson engages in conversations with other AEquitas staff, former prosecutors with years of experience prosecuting sexual violence. 

In this episode, Jane and Attorney Advisor John Wilkinson explain how collaboration with law enforcement and other key stakeholders is key to a victim-centered approach, identifies intersections between prosecutors and law enforcement, and discusses how to turn potential conflicts with law enforcement into opportunities for strengthened collaboration.

At the conclusion of this episode, viewers will be better able to:
– Identify opportunities to enhance collaboration with law enforcement
– Identify and address possible areas of conflict
– Increase victim safety and participation by demonstrating a holistic approach

Additional resources related to this episode:
– Model Response to Sexual Violence for Prosecutors (RSVP) Volume I: An Invitation to Lead, § 3.1-B.1 (Communicate Regularly and Meaningfully With Investigators)
– To Record or Not To Record: Use of Body-Worn Cameras During Police Response to Crimes of Violence Against Women
– Body-Worn Cameras and Gender-Based Violence: Practical Considerations from the Prosecution Perspective

 

This project was supported by Grant No. 15JOVW-21-GK-02220-MUMU awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice.

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Foundations of Sexual Violence Prosecutions: The Trauma-Informed Prosecutor

This webinar is part of a 10-episode podcast-style series focused on the foundational elements of prosecuting sexual violence cases. In each episode, AEquitas Attorney Advisor Jane Anderson engages in conversations with other AEquitas staff, former prosecutors with years of experience prosecuting sexual violence. 

In this episode, Jane and Attorney Advisor Patti Powers explore how trauma affects a survivor of sexual violence, including their behaviors, their ability to disclose and recount details of the assault, and their ability to participate in the prosecution of the offender. They also discuss how prosecutors can utilize trauma-informed strategies to establish rapport with victims and to elicit details of the assault, as well as considerations for when victims are ultimately unable to participate in prosecution. 

At the conclusion of this episode, viewers will be better able to:
– Recognize trauma and its effects
– Implement trauma-informed practices to support victim participation
– Conduct trauma-informed interviews and direct examinations

Additional resources related to this episode:
– Integrating a Trauma-Informed Response in Violence Against Women and Human Trafficking Prosecutions 
– Enhancing Conviction Integrity through Forensics Webinar — Achieving Justice at Trial: Direct Examination of Victims of Violent Crimes
– Enhancing Conviction Integrity through Forensics Webinar: Advancing Justice: Interviewing and Presenting Testimony of Victims of Violent Crimes

 

This project was supported by Grant No. 15JOVW-21-GK-02220-MUMU awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice.

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Foundations of Sexual Violence Prosecutions: The Perfect Plan: Accessibility, Vulnerability, and Perceived Lack of Credibility

This webinar is part of a 10-episode podcast-style series focused on the foundational elements of prosecuting sexual violence cases. In each episode, AEquitas Attorney Advisor Jane Anderson engages in conversations with other AEquitas staff, former prosecutors with years of experience prosecuting sexual violence. 

In this episode, Jane and Attorney Advisor Jonathan Kurland explore how offenders target, access, and assault their victims, as well as how they use victims’ vulnerabilities to escape accountability. They also discuss how prosecutors can reframe the narrative at trial to maximize accountability for offenders and seek justice for victims.

At the conclusion of this episode, viewers will be better able to:
– Identify and collect evidence of the offender’s predatory behavior
– Develop an offender-focused theme and theory
– Recreate the reality of the crime at trial

Additional resources related to this episode:
– Model Response to Sexual Violence for Prosecutors (RSVP Model)
–Overcoming the Consent Defense: Prosecuting Known Offenders
–The Prosecutors’ Resource on Sexual Violence Cases Involving Victims with Intellectual Disabilities

 

This project was supported by Grant No. 15JOVW-21-GK-02220-MUMU awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice.

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Not Just a Credibility Contest: Sexual Violence Prosecutions That Go Beyond “Offender Said, Victim Said”

Sexual violence cases are often mistakenly reduced to a contest of credibility between the victim’s disclosure and the offender’s denial. Even though jurisdictions do not require corroboration of the victim’s testimony at trial, jurors may find it difficult to convict a defendant absent additional evidence. While crimes of sexual violence typically do not occur in front of other individuals, there are always witnesses and evidence to corroborate what happened before, during, and after the assault. By presenting the full scope of admissible evidence, prosecutors will increase the likelihood of success at trial while reducing the burden on victims.

This presentation addresses strategies and tactics to understand and explain victim disclosures through a trauma-informed lens; utilize victim behavior experts to educate fact-finders about the range of victim responses to sexual violence; and examine offender characteristics, motivations, and behaviors, as well as the impact of the offender’s actions on the victim. The presenter suggests strategies for overcoming common misconceptions at trial, including establishing a compelling trial theme, introducing evidence of the defendant’s predatory behavior, presenting corroborating evidence to support witness credibility, and recreating the reality of the crime for the jury.

At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be better able to:
-Maintain focus on the offender.
-Support victim and witness credibility with corroborating evidence.
-Develop and present expert testimony to explain victim behavior. -Recreate the reality of the crime at trial.

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Justice Systems from a Child’s Perspective: Supporting Young Trafficking Survivors

This webinar highlights the Center for Court Innovation’s (CCI) Child Witness Materials Development Project, an initiative funded by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and a partner project of AEquitas. In 2021, OVC published a package of support materials for child victims and witnesses of crime that CCI had created, and in January 2022, OVC published an additional package of interactive support materials specifically for youth who have experienced human trafficking. A multidisciplinary group of national trafficking experts with professional and and lived experience contributed to the design and development of these materials.

In this webinar, participants learn more about how young trafficking survivors experience the justice system, and how they can address youth’s needs and provide developmentally-appropriate information and emotional support. Participants learn how to effectively use the Child Witness materials in their roles so youth feel more informed and empowered as they navigate their own healing process in addition to navigating the system.

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The Perfect Plan: How Victor Rax Sexually Abused and Trafficked Boys in Salt Lake City

While awareness of human trafficking is on the rise, there are still blind spots that prevent law enforcement from recognizing all forms of exploitation.  Men, boys, and victims of labor trafficking through forced criminality are often overlooked because they do not fit the typical depiction of a human trafficking victim.   However, in the case of Victor Rax, Utah’s Attorney General’s Office was able to identify dozens of boys and young men from immigrant communities who were forced to sell drugs after being sexually, spiritually, and physically abused. 

The presenters use the Rax case as a backdrop to discuss the realities of labor trafficking through forced criminality, including how traffickers use grooming tactics common in both child sexual abuse cases and in gang culture to recruit and coerce victims to commit crimes.  Strategies to better identify and respond to cases of forced criminality are discussed through a detailed examination of the Rax investigation which led to his eventual arrest for sexual abuse and labor trafficking. 

At the end of this presentation, participants will be better able to:
-Recognize and describe methods traffickers use to identify, recruit, and coerce victims of labor trafficking via forced criminality
-Conduct trauma-informed investigations and prosecutions in cases where male victims have been abused and exploited to effectively hold offenders accountable
-Collaborate to provide support to and connect male victims of forced criminality/human trafficking with meaningful services

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Collecting and Analyzing Carjacking Data: Challenges and Solutions

As violent crime increases nationwide, reports of increases in carjackings has become a concern in many communities. However, because jurisdictions often include carjackings under a general category of robbery, it is difficult to accurately identify the number of carjackings occurring separately from those robberies. This webinar spotlights the experiences of an IPS grantee’s efforts to tackle this issue from a data collection and analysis perspective. Ryan Bokoch of the Cuyahoga County Office of the Prosecutor in Cleveland, OH discusses his Crime Strategy Unit’s effort to collect and analyze data concerning carjackings in the Cleveland area so that the Office of the Prosecutor and their partners would have an accurate understanding of the numbers, location and perpetrator/victim demographics associated with this violent and potentially deadly crime.

Upon completion of this session, participants will be better able to:

-Assess current data collection efforts regarding carjacking crime.
-Analyze data to create an accurate picture of carjacking crime within your jurisdiction.
-Utilize data to inform the response to carjacking crime.

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Self-Collected Sexual Assault Kits: Assessing and Mitigating the Risks

This article focuses on self-collected sexual assault kits—sometimes known as “do-it-yourself” or “DIY” kits— that are self-administered post-assault and involve the collection and preservation of evidence from the body in a non-medical setting. It examines the rationale behind self-collected kits for victims of sexual violence who state that they want to address their trauma outside the healthcare and criminal justice systems; the challenges self-collected kits present for prosecutors; and the limitations of self-collected kits to provide critical victim care, treatment, and support traditionally provided through the sexual assault medical forensic exam (SAMFE) process. The authors discuss the available alternatives for those circumstances in which self-collected kits may be perceived to be the best available option. Finally, where self-collected kits have been used, the authors offer strategies to mitigate the evidentiary, advocacy, and legal challenges they present. SIB38_Jan22

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Intimate Partner Violence Foundations: Not Just a Box to Check: Building Trust and Rapport

This webinar is part of a 10-episode podcast-style series focused on the foundational elements of prosecuting intimate partner violence cases (IPV). In each episode, AEquitas Attorney Advisor Jane Anderson engages in conversations with other AEquitas staff, former prosecutors with years of experience prosecuting IPV. 

In this episode, Jane and Attorney Advisor Patti Powers discuss how to assess victims’ needs and provide meaningful access to appropriate services, communicate effectively with victims at all stages of a case, and improve victim disclosures. They highlight what building trust and rapport with victims may look like, challenges prosecutors may face when establishing relationships with victims, and strategies to overcome these challenges.

At the conclusion of this presentation, viewers will be better able to:

  • Build trust and rapport with victims;
  • Enhance prosecutions through improved victim disclosures; and
  • Demonstrate that the criminal justice system is a safe place for victims

Additional resources related to this episode: