In a joint effort to make the area safer for everyone, local organizations and health officials are working hard to promote awareness about sexual assault and provide services to victims.
The University Health Center will take part in a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner training program conducted by the Oregon Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force in an effort to provide better medical services to sexual assault victims. The program, which runs this week at Eugene Hilton Conference Center, will provide training to 64 nurses from hospitals and health clinics across the region.
One of the advantages to providing a sexual assault examiner on campus is to offer on-site services to victims who report crimes to University authorities or health providers. Health center nursing director Anne Mattson said victims who report to the health center are examined first on-site and then a second time at an emergency room to document evidence. Having a trained nurse on-site would reduce the emotional trauma a victim may experience from having multiple examinations.
Heather Fowler, the SANE training coordinator, said the program involves teaching nurses to take more accurate evidence from victims as well as to treat them with more compassion and understanding. She said unnecessary procedures are often performed on sexual assault victims that cause even further trauma in an already frightening situation.
Nurses will also learn how to document forensic evidence more efficiently in an effort to better prosecute sex offenders. Fowler said sometimes evidence is either missed or improperly collected, making it difficult to seek justice for sex crimes.
“The bottom line for having this program is to improve the response to victims,” Fowler said. “We want to train examiners to be compassionate and not ignorant to the needs of victims.”
The program will also feature speakers from various public service offices to discuss issues such as legal aspects of sex crimes, sexually transmitted diseases and vulnerable populations.
The National Crime Victimization Survey reported 249,000 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault in 2000. While reports indicate sexual assault is declining, crimes on the University campus have seen an increase. In 2001, the University Department of Public Safety reported 11 forcible sex offenses, a dramatic increase from three reported in 2000.
Nadia Telsey, who teaches self defense courses at the University, said the increase could be attributed to a higher instance of reporting crimes.
Telsey had been actively involved in the anti-violence movement for more than 30 years. In 2000, she established Breaking Free, a non-profit organization working toward providing awareness about rape and sexual violence. Telsey says rather than teaching physical methods of battling sexual assault, she teaches people to defend themselves verbally and through understanding the methods of attackers.
“We teach people how to heal from past events as well as how to avoid possible future attacks,” Telsey said.
Breaking Free also works closely with Sexual Assault Support Services, another non-profit organization geared toward offering services to victims and promoting awareness. Beth Monterrosa runs SASS’s In-Powerment program, an eight-week self defense program. SASS also offers a 24-hour crisis line and group advocacy services. All of their services are free, she added.
“We are not here to counsel people; we’re here to offer support and allow them to choose how to handle the situation,” Monterrosa said.
The SASS crisis line is 485-6700 or (800)788-4727. Victims of sexual assault can also contact the University’s crisis line at 346-4488.