Virtual Police and Correctional Training Commissions Lesson Plan

LESSON TITLE: Victims of Sexual Assault and Their Rights

PREPARED BY:

DATE: 1/10/2021

Hours: 120 minutes Day/Time: Anytime

Audience: All levels of law enforcement, corrections and the Department of Parole and Probation

Number: 30-58

Space: Class Room Style

1.             Define sexual assault.       Students will hold discussions on the different types of sexual assault and measures that sexual assault victims should take

2.             Providing an overview of sexual assault, including its prevalence rates, history, changes in the law over time, and the impact it has on the overall community.

3.             Discuss the barriers for victims in reporting and seeking assistance.

4.             Discussing challenges for criminal justice professionals in responding to the crime investigation.

5.             Discussing best practices for law enforcement and community response to these victims.

6. Discuss any applicable requirements for first responders and law enforcement in the relevant jurisdiction and applicable victims’ rights and resources.

ü  Overheads

ü  Videotapes

ü  Slides

ü  Posters

ü  Reference Documents

ü  Flipchart & Stands

ü  Videotape Player

ü  Flipchart Markers

ü  Video camera

ü  Masking Tape

ü  Televisions

ü  Slide Projector

ü  Video show

ü  Overhead Projector

ü  Computers

ü  Projector Screen

ü  Speakers

ü  Extension Cords/Power strips

ü  Note cards and pencils

58 copies

Title: Sexual Assault Awareness

1. Crime Victims and Witnesses: Your Rights and Services

2. Law Enforcement laws and additional laws regarding sexual assault

3. Law Handouts for Law Enforcement, DPP, and DJS.

4. Victims’ Rights Pre/Post Test.

I am a police officer in charge of handling crimes relating to sexual assault. I also have three years’ experience as a first responder in sexual assault crimes.

Objectives

ü  To help learners recognize the characteristics of perpetrators of sexual assault so that they can stay away from them before they are assaulted.

ü  To enable learners to distinguish the boundaries between social environments and work so that they can set the proper boundaries to prevent sexual assault.

ü  To inform learners on the steps they should follow to address unwanted advances so that they can prevent being victims of sexual assault.

ü  To inform learners on the factors contributing to sexual harassment so that they can prevent them.

ü  Hot seat

The trainees will be divided into different teams, and in every team, one member will be selected randomly. They will be asked random questions about their lives and be required to answer truthfully. They will also be asked general questions regarding what usually happens in the work environment, such as their opinion on what they would consider in determining which employee to lay off, especially with the current trend of laying off employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each team member on the hot seat will then be required to invite another member from their team after leaving the hot seat.

Sexual assault is the intentional sexual advances on another person without their permission or physically forcing someone to engage in sexual activities against their will.

Sexual assault in the workplace

Sexual assault is a common issue in society and is currently happening in many workplaces. It is, therefore, important for employees to be informed about the most important aspects of the issue, such as the right way to respond to sexual assault incidents and how to identify them before they occur. According to Hersch (2021), tolerance of sexual assault in an organization has the most influence on whether employees will sexually assault one another or not. The authors add that training in what constitutes sexual assault in the workplace and organizational policies towards sexual assault have been demonstrated to increase the probability that workers, particularly men, will identify unwanted sexual conduct.

Types of sexual assault

·         Child sexual abuse

·         Groping

·         Rape

The history of sexual assault dates back to 1995, when the National Violence Against Women Survey was conducted. The results of the survey indicated that 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men had experienced a completed or attempted rape as a child or adult. In 2000, the National College of Women Sexual Victimization established that less than 5% of attempted or completed rapes were reported to law enforcement officials (Morrison et al., 2004). Since then, the prevalence of sexual assault has been on the rise. Available data gathered from different parts of the world indicate that between 75 and 36% of girls and 3% and 29% of boys have experienced child sexual abuse (Morrison et al., 2004). Most of the studies conclude that sexual violence against girls is three times more prevalent compared to boys. The leading cause of the prevalence of sexual assault is human trafficking. Research suggests that somewhere between one and two million children and women are trafficked every year globally for forced labor, sexual exploitation, or domestic servitude.

The laws on sexual assault have changed over the years, starting from the Code of Hammurabi, which is one of the earliest written laws that viewed the rape of virgins as damage to property against her father. Sexual assault against a woman was, therefore, viewed as a property crime against the victim’s father or husband. However, during the 11^th and 12^th centuries, rape started being considered more as a sexual, violent crime against the victim. The Statutes of Westminster were enacted at the end of the 13^th century allowing the crown to charge rapists if the victim’s family was not willing to do so hence indicating a significant change in rape being considered a crime against the State (Bishop, 2019). After the rise of the anti-Rape movement, there was a significant change in the American rape law from 1960 onwards. Marital rape crime was recognized in 1976, and in 1975, Congress adopted rules known as rape shields that limited the ability of a defendant to probe into the sexual behavior, reputation, or history of the alleged victim.

Although most people assume that sexual assault may only be affecting the victim, it also has a significant impact on the overall community. Research shows that sexual violence has a significant long-term impact on the participation of victims in society. Sexual assault victims usually fear the crime and restrict their activities to a greater extent, hence making them keep to themselves instead of interacting with other people in society. This could have an impact on the community by limiting collaboration to boost the growth of one another and the community at large. Sexual assault survivors also experience short-term and long-term emotional, physical, reproductive, and psychological health problems. The health care costs incurred in addressing the medical needs of the victims of sexual assaults are high, hence affecting the general economy of the community.

One of the main barriers that hinder sexual assault victims from seeing assistance and reporting is the socially constructed perception of men being strong, heterosexual protectors with higher levels of sexual aggression and autonomy compared to females. Coxell & King (2010) argue that this can lead to viewing male victims as having lost control, power, confidence, identity, and interdependence. According to Allen et al. (2015), male victims may opt not to report their sexual assault incidents because they expect ridicule and rejection by police, family, and friends. The expectation that men should be able to defend themselves after an attack and protect female victims from attack results in the assumption that sexually victimized males are failures and should not be viewed as men. The second barrier is the fear of ridicule. This barrier includes two obstacles that often come up together the fear of not being believed and the fear of being judged for being gay (Coxell & King, 2010). Male victims may fear that the police officers may ridicule them for being gay, particularly if the police officers have a tendency not to take reports seriously. Male victims may also worry that being sexually assaulted makes them gay or that there is something about them making others view them as gay. This fear is prevalent in most societies that homosexual males who have been sexually assaulted will sometimes depict themselves as heterosexual because they assume that their report will sometimes depict themselves as heterosexual because they assume their report will be taken more seriously. This belief may also make male victims try to prove their masculinity.

The third barrier is feeling stigmatized. Most sexual assault victims fail to report and look for help because of the stigma directed towards sexual assault victims in most societies. The fourth barrier is the feeling of hopelessness. Most sexual assault victims feel hopeless because of being unable to defend themselves during the assault. This feeling continues to affect them to the extent that they feel ashamed of themselves. The fifth barrier is being fearful of the future. Sexual assault creates uncertainty for the future because it disrupts the emotions and physical condition of a victim. They may also fear that their case may not be kept private and that they may be judged by those around them. Another barrier is the fear of retaliation by the perpetrator because, in most cases, sexual assault victims are threatened by their perpetrators to prevent them from reporting.

Challenges for criminal justice professionals in responding to the crime.

One of the challenges for criminal justice professionals in responding to crime and conducting proper investigations is poor witness collaboration. Conducting an effective investigation requires the criminal justice professional to interview the victim and gather all the facts about the incident. In most cases, victims are unwilling to speak because of being threatened by the perpetrators and shocked by the incident. Poor witness collaboration may also arise due to fear of ridicule and stigmatization. The second challenge is that victims do not understand the procedure of reporting sexual assault cases. In some instances, some victims may report after they have already cleaned the evidence that could help in proving that they were indeed sexually assaulted. Some victims may also not be aware of help centers that can help them pursue justice without too much emotional torture, hence limiting their collaboration with criminal justice professionals. The third challenge is that some victims may not be able to identify the perpetrator’s full name and address, which makes it hard for criminal justice professionals to catch the perpetrator.

Best practices for law enforcement and community response to these victims

One of the best law enforcement and community response prices to victims of sexual assault is allowing the Rape Crisis Center advocate to stay with the victim during the interview process. The interview should include people who are immediately and directly related to the victim, the victim, a rape crisis advocate, social worker, psychologist, or another professional offering emotional support to the victim unless the victim does not want the presence of such individuals and requests their exclusion. Where appropriate, the parent or parents of the victim may be present during the interview if requested by the victim. Another best practice is to remain non-judgmental and objective and explain the process of the interview. Suppose a victim is unwilling to make a complaint or is unsure about it. In that case, the law enforcement officer should advise the victim about the right to make a formal statement later and the right procedure for doing it. When the victim does not know the offender, the law enforcement officer should focus on gathering as much information as possible by considering their detailed physical description, including specific details such as facial features, tattoos, clothing, distinctive walks, marks and odors, and information about their vehicle. This information should be compared to information about other offenders who have been arrested before for a similar crime to establish a pattern. Suppose the perpetrator is known to the victim. In that case, the law enforcement officer should establish the nature and level of the relationship between the offender and victim, including the type of contact they have had, the period of their relationship, and how they have known each other. They should also determine information about the assault, such as any visible physical injuries on the victim’s body.

Applicable requirements for first responders and law enforcement in the relevant jurisdiction

The main responsibility of the first responding officer is to attend to the victim by covering him or her and determining whether there are any physical injuries that require first aid. The officer should ensure that the victim is not stigmatized. First, responding officers are also required to preserve evidence on the victim by advising him or her not to take a shower, not to drink anything or brush their teeth, and not to remove any clothes. The officer should also protect and secure the crime scene to ensure that it is not tampered with and no evidence is removed without authorization. They should also contact a local Rape Crisis Center to ensure that the victim gets the emotional help they need to deal with the incident. The first responder is also required to inform the victim that it is in their best interest to allow healthcare professionals to collect forensic evidence. They should be taken to the Sexual Assault Examiners Unit or area hospital’s emergency department. The victim can then be medically treated and given the appropriate preventive treatment for pregnancy and possible sexually transmitted infections. The victims should be given the name, telephone number, and address of the nearest Rape Crisis Center in writing. The first responders should also provide a private setting for interviewing the victim, such as an enclosed room from which they cannot be seen or heard.

Applicable victims’ rights and resources

One of the applicable sexual assault victims’ rights is the right to protection from harassment and intimidation. The second right is the right to be treated with dignity, fairness, respect, and sensitivity. Sexual assault victims also have a right to privacy. These rights play a vital role in creating a safe space for the victims to collaborate with authority in the pursuit of justice. These rights also help in reducing the long-term negative impacts on the emotions of sexual assault victims. The victims also require important resources such as access to a psychologist and Rape Crisis Center advocates to explain medical and legal procedures and options and the details of filing a police report.

Conclusion activities

The training will end by completing a small timed test to assess the learner’s understanding of the concepts discussed throughout the training program. Another activity will be presenting a sexual assault case study to the learners and requiring them to address it by applying the concepts in the training program. There will also be a quiz competition where groups will compete in answering questions relating to sexual assault. The winning team will be rewarded to encourage the team members to work together to win.