In 2019, the Steve Hicks School’s Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault (IDVSA) offered five expert witness trainings across Texas. These trainings continue IDVSA’s efforts to educate attorneys, law-enforcement officers, and potential expert witnesses such as social workers, advocates, and medical professionals on the role and use of expert testimony in cases involving domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and non-fatal strangulation.
“We are building capacity throughout our state that results in increased victim safety, offender accountability, and justice,” Expert Witness Training director Margaret Bassett said. “Each training is specific to the community in which it is delivered and improves the effectiveness of the court systems’ knowledge about and responses to these crimes in Texas.”