Enhancing the Court s Response to Adult Victim Sexual Assault Cases

Transcription

1 Enhancing the Court s Response to Adult Victim Sexual Assault Cases February 28, 2017 Lynn Hecht Schafran, Esq. Director, National Judicial Education Program, Legal Momentum 1

2 Which Courts Need Education about Adult Victim Sexual Assault? Criminal Civil Family Juvenile Specialized Courts 2

3 NJEP Resources In-person Presentations Multi-use Online Curricula Web Course Related Publications DVDs Webinars 3

4 Understanding Sexual Violence: The Judicial Response to Stranger and Nonstranger Rape and Sexual Assault In-person curriculum with interactive exercises DVD version Excerpted DVDs The Undetected Rapist A Response to The Undetected Rapist 4

5 NJEP On-Line Curricula The Challenges of Adult Victim Sexual Assault Cases Elder Victims of Sexual Abuse Interpreters in Adult Victim Sexual Assault Cases Jury Selection and Decision Making in Adult Victim Sexual Assault Cases Medical Forensic Sexual Assault Examinations: What Are They, and What Can They Tell the Courts? Raped or Seduced?: How Language Helps Shape our Response to Sexual Violence Women in Drug Treatment Courts: Sexual Assault as the Underlying Trauma 5

6 The Intersection of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Web Course: 13 interactive modules Web Course: Intimate Partner Sexual Abuse: The Hidden Dimension of Domestic Violence Cases 20- to 180-minute versions can be integrated into domestic violence programs 6

7 Trafficking [S]ex trafficking is often an extreme form of intimate-partner violence in which traffickers are pimps and batterers rolled into one.... Sexual abuse is used by traffickers as both an end and a means: As an end to reap the maximum amount of money possible from the commercial sexual exploitation of their victims and as a means to keep them in such an acute condition of trauma that they cannot mobilize themselves to escape.... Not only do traffickers frequently make their victims their lovers, showering on them all of the trappings of a romantic seduction, in a number of instances they have been known to marry their victims in order to cement their control. - Dorchen A. Leidholdt, Director, Center for Battered Women s Legal Services, Sanctuary for Families, New York, NY 7

8 Encouraging Courts to Engage with This Material: Interactive Teaching Techniques to Use with NJEP Resources Information + Application Integrating Sexual Assault Issues Across the Judicial Education Syllabus 8

9 Information + Application Expert Presentations and Application Exercises Judges Tell: What I Wish I Had Known Before I Presided in an Adult Victim Sexual Assault Case with electronic responders 9

10 Information + Application Expert Presentations and Application Exercises Judges Tell: What I Wish I Had Known Before I Presided in an Adult Victim Sexual Assault Case with electronic responders Trauma Expert with application exercises Ethics Issues Discussions Case Studies 10

11 Case Study: The Greens Ms. Green is granted a TPO against her estranged husband (with whom she has 3 children) based on his increasing erratic and threatening behavior. Ms. Green then seeks a Final Protection Order and Supervised Visitation for Mr. Green. At the hearing Mr. Green s defense attorney states that Petitioner has continued sexual relations with Respondent, and asserts that this shows that Ms. Green is not afraid of Respondent, and that both a Final Order of Protection and an order of Supervised Visitation are unnecessary. 11

12 Case Study: Questions Should Petitioner s sexual activity with Respondent be a factor in your decisions about the requested Final Order of Protection and order for Supervised Visitation? Is there additional information about this sexual relationship that would be helpful in making your decisions? If so, what would you like to know? 12

13 Integrating Sexual Assault Issues Across the Judicial Education Syllabus Examples: Understanding Sexual Violence Unit on the Neurobiology of Trauma Include in programming on: Assessing Credibility Trauma-Informed Courtrooms Expert Witnesses Women in Drug Treatment Courts: Sexual Assault as the Underlying Trauma Include in Programming on: Drug Treatment Courts Problem-Solving Courts Trauma-Informed Courtrooms 13

14 Colorado Andrew Maikovich, Judicial Educator VAWA Institute (2016) Need for the training Program overview Impact or follow-up efforts Planning tips 14

15 Washington Pam Dittman, Court Education Professional (Former VAW POC) 1. Stakeholder meeting and NJEP webinar, Intimate Partner Sexual Abuse: The Hidden Dimension of Domestic Violence 2. Enhancing Courts Response to Adult Victim Sexual Violence Workshops (2015) Need for the training Program overview Impact or follow-up efforts Planning tips 15

16 Minnesota Melia Garza, Domestic and Sexual Violence Analyst (VAW POC) 1. Champion Judges Program (2015) 2. Understanding Sexual Violence (2015) Need for the training Program overview Impact or follow-up efforts Planning tips 16

17 National Judicial Education Program Resources NJEP S diverse resources are available for free on the National Center for State Courts website, on the Resources page ( spx). They are also accessible on NJEP s website at 17

18 Contacts Lynn Hecht Schafran Director, National Judicial Education Program Legal Momentum (212) Denise Dancy National Center for State Courts

19 Thank you! This project is supported by Cooperative Agreement No 2014-TA-AX-K045 awarded by the Office of Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice. 19