Training Videos Help Police, Prosecutors, and Advocates Respond to Sexual Assault

IDVSA created five videos that feature law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and advocates who work daily with sexual assault survivors and leading scholars in the field. The videos discuss issues as diverse as consent, the neurobiology of trauma, and alcohol and drug use.

“These training resources get the right tools into the hands of law enforcement, prosecutors, victim services, and advocates. They help these survivor-serving professionals understand the complexities of sexual assault and the unique importance of each other’s roles,” said Aimee Snoddy, Executive Director, Public Safety Office at the Office of the Texas Governor.

The release of these training tools coincides with the reopening of many college campuses where state and national studies show that sexual misconduct is a reality, with students experiencing gender harassment (14%), “When law enforcement, prosecutors, advocates, and researchers collaborate and trust one another, the sexual assault response system works better to support survivor healing and increase offender accountability,” said IDVSA Director and University Presidential professor Noël Busch-Armendariz. “These tools give professionals engaging and dynamic learning platforms to better understand the science, myths, psychology, and sexual assault laws — and ultimately student and campus safety.”

The videos focus on five areas:
• Neurobiology of Trauma in Sexual Assault Cases
• Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Assault
• Alcohol and Drugs in Sexual Assault Cases
• Sexual Assault Response Collaboration
• Sexual Assault and Consent

This effort is part of IDVSA’s Compendium of Resources on Sexual Assault (CORSA) Project, a resource widely available that was developed to enhance coordinated community responses to sexual assault, including briefing sheets, highlighting challenging circumstances faced by law enforcement officers (both campus and municipal), prosecutors, civil legal attorneys, and advocates when responding to sexual assault and the corresponding common misinformation; barriers to investigations, prosecution and advocacy; current science to inform practice; and best practices.

View the videos and detailed descriptions of each on the CORSA II Training Videos page.