Video: The National Sexual Assault Policy Symposium

• NCJ Number: 250628
• Author(s): Heather Waltke; Howard Spivak; Gerald LaPorte; Martha Bashford; Natasha S. Alexenko; Brady Mills; Mary Lentschke; Matthew Gamette
• Date Published: February 2017
• Length: 2 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Technical Assistance; Program/Project Evaluation; Program/Project Description

Annotation

This video and accompanying transcript presents participant and organizer comments on the impact of the 2-day NIJ National Sexual Assault Policy Symposium held in September 2016, which focused on how the Nation is making progress in finding solutions to the complex issues that arise in sexual assault cases and in testing sexual assault evidence.

Abstract

An organizer from the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ's) Office of Investigative & Forensic Sciences notes the diversity in the symposium in its addressing of all aspects of the criminal justice system's response to sexual assault. Symposium participants represented survivors, advocates, forensic laboratories, law enforcement, the medical community, prosecution, and legal defense. Another organizer notes that although the driving force behind the symposium was the backlog of unsubmitted, untested sexual assault kits, the issues discussed pertained to all aspects of the criminal justice system's response to sexual assault. Another organizer comments on the symposium's bringing together of representatives from various jurisdictions throughout the Country, so as to share concerns, challenges, and effective responses to sexual assault. One participant mentions the value of interacting with persons involved in different aspects of responding to sexual assault victims, case investigations, prosecution, defense, and offender management. Other participants comment on collaboration across disciplines in managing sexual assault cases, the uniqueness of focusing a multidisciplinary symposium on the various aspects of responding to a particular crime type, and the importance of interagency cooperation in an effective response to sexual assault.