Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

["Judy Benitez" <>]

Dear Colleague: 

 

We need your help to get to the truth about how many rapes were committed in
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.

 

Thanks to a new national on-line database, you can help!

 

Please spread this message far and wide to professionals in the fields of
rape crisis advocacy, law enforcement, healthcare, emergency medicine,
sexual assault forensics, system-based crime victim advocacy, and
emergency/disaster response. 

 

The media have reported that the stories of rape, in the hurricane/storm
aftermath, were "greatly exaggerated" or merely rumors.

 

However, we have heard anecdotal accounts that law enforcement was unable to
function in their usual role, that hurricane shelters did not offer enough
privacy to facilitate talking about something so personal, and that victims
didn't know that other police departments could take courtesy reports on
behalf of the departments where the crimes happened. It will likely take
weeks, months, or even years before victims choose to come forward and
report the crime.  

 

In addition to the many reasons that sexual assault survivors are reluctant
to report under usual circumstances - fear of being blamed or not being
believed, shame about what happened or the desire to just forget about it -
those victimized during Katrina, and other disasters, are also faced with
trying to put their lives back together.  

 

Silencing these victims is wrong. They deserve to tell their stories, to
access healing and services, to talk about what might have been done that
could have kept them safer. Regardless of how many see their offenders
punished, they deserve justice. At the very least, they deserve to be
counted. 

 

For this reason, the week after Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, a group
of professionals from the fields of rape victim advocacy, law enforcement,
emergency medicine, and prosecution began work on developing an anonymous
database to gather information about sexual assaults that occurred in the
wake of Katrina. 

 

Information for the database will be entered by professionals whose work
brings them in contact with victims of sexual assault.

 

The database includes no identifying information about the victims, but is
intended to gather enough information about each incident so that multiple
reports of one incident will not be counted more than once. In this manner,
we hope to get an idea of the real extent of sexual assault that occurred in
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.

 

We ask that in the days, weeks and months to come, when you work with a
victim of, or witness to, a post-disaster sexual assault, that you visit:

 

 <http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?A=99580325E16401>
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?A=99580325E16401

 

Please enter whatever information you have. As a contributor to this site,
your agency will receive periodic aggregate data reports, which will enable
you to see what has been reported around the country. 

 

Please do NOT include any identifying information about individual victims.
Please DO enter your agency and contact information so that we can contact
you if we need to verify any information. The County of San Diego, Health
and Human Services Agency, Emergency Medical Services Branch developed the
survey and will be the only entity that has direct access to the
information.   

The survey will take approximately 5 minutes. In our attempt to ensure the
accuracy of these reports, we ask that you not post this survey on any
websites; however, feel free to distribute the link to your colleagues and
constituents via email, mail, and fax.

 

Please remember the outrage we all felt in those days immediately following
Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding. We cannot allow those who
were sexually victimized during an especially vulnerable time to be silenced
and forgotten. Please log on now and enter any information you have already
obtained from your work with victims and witnesses. 

 

Thank you and please remember...victims deserve to be counted.

 

I would like to extend a special thank you to the National Sexual Violence
Resource Center for facilitating this project, the County of San Diego,
Health and Human Services Agency, Emergency Medical Services Branch for
developing the database, and others critical to this effort*.

 

Judy Benitez, M.Ed.

Executive Director

Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault

1250 SW RR Ave., Suite 170, Hammond, LA 70403

Phone 985-345-5995

Fax 985-345-5592

Email:  
<mailto:>
 

 or
<mailto:>
 


Web site:  <http://www.lafasa.org/> www.lafasa.org

"Justice will only be achieved when those who have not been injured by crime
are as indignant as those who have." -- King Solomon

 

* American Prosecutors Research Institute, End Violence Against Women
International, Gulf States Regional Policing Institute, International
Association of Chiefs of Police, Joanne Archambault (Sergeant Ret.) Sexual
Assault Training and Investigations, National Center for Women and Policing,
National Crime Victim Law Institute & Center for Law and Public Policy on
Sexual Violence, National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence, National
Sexual Assault Coalition Resource Sharing Project, State/Territory Sexual
Assault Coalitions, Wendy Murphy, Esq. Victim Advocacy and Research Group

 

 

 
 
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Thank you for your message. I am at a forum all day on Wednesday, November 
2nd.  I will respond to your message as soon as I can.  If you need immediate 
assistance, please call the main number for the Office of Student Life at 
(408) 554-4583.

Regards,
Lisa Millora
________________________________________
Assistant Dean, Office of Student Life
Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
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From: "Pequignot, Jacqui" 
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All,

Florida State University is looking at providing "Facilitated
Discussion" as an alternative to judicial hearings for sexual misconduct
cases.  I need any feedback available!

1.  Does your college/university provide "Facilitated Discussion or
Mediation" as an alternative for sexual misconduct cases?
2.  If yes, would you consider this an appropriate procedure for sexual
misconduct cases?
3.  If yes, how many women opt for this procedure?
4.  How many women that have opted for this procedure stated that they
felt it was a fair process and they were glad they chose it?

Based on my knowledge of sexual violence and the power differential that
exists, and my understanding of restorative justice, I am concerned that
"Facilitated Discussion" is not a viable alternative to panel hearings.
However, I am open to your experiences.  Please help!

Thanks so much.

Jacqui Pequignot
Asst. Dean/Director
Victim Advocate Program
Florida State University
850/644-7161