Last Week at Rotary, August 4, 2022

Club Updates

This past weekend was the district Youth Exchange conference. It went very well according to our outbound students.

Resilience

Resilience identifies its mission to respond, reduce, and prevent sexual abuse. Beth Curley, Sexual Assault Program Coordinator, talked to us about the respond part. Beth is a forensic nurse and heads up the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) team. The team includes a full time Sexual Assault Survivor Advocate and 6 contracted nurses.

One in four women and one in six men will be/have been sexually abused. The Resilience SANE team works with 57 cases a year, mostly women. About 1/3 of the victims are 13-18 years old. In 80% of sexual assaults the perpetrator is known by the victim.

The Process of Working with the Victim

The SANE team is doing outreach to Law Enforcement, Hospitals, and schools to let them know of their availability. It is far better if the first contact by the victim is with SANE rather than an ER. Law enforcement and hospitals have strict procedures that must be followed. To a person who has just been victimized by something out of their control this feels like another thing they can't control. The team will travel to hospitals, group homes, or nursing homes to work with victims. Resilience has fully equipped facilities for working with victims.

The initial handling of the victim is critical to their long-term well-being. The SANE team works to ensure health, then safety, and finally to gather evidence for any potential legal action. This process usually takes 3-4 hours. The survivor advocate is with the victim at all times and can connect them with any needed services. Gathering evidence can be done anytime up to 5 days after the assault. About 90% of victims who work with a SANE team will eventually engage with law enforcement.