ANDVSA in the News (2015)

The Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (ANDVSA) announced earlier this week that it is very proud to have nominated Ann Rausch, Program Coordinator at the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (CDVSA), for the Visionary Voice Award for 2015. Ms. Rausch received the award from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) to honor her as one of the premiere voices of prevention leaders in the state of Alaska.
The statistics for rural Alaska speak of sexual assaults in numbers that lead the nation, yet personal experience from victim advocates paint an especially chilling picture. Peggy Brown, the executive director of Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault says there are few prosecutions in rural areas, “There are some villages, every single girl under the age of 13 expects she will be raped. They expect it,” said Brown.
Community members from across the Kenai Peninsula packed the Homer Theatre earlier this month for the Homeless in Homer film screening and discussion panel. The Homeless in Homer forum was the first of its kind. It was the brain child of local participants in the statewide Lead On! program, sponsored by the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
Other News! 
The American Bar Association Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence has selected lawyers from around the country to receive various awards. One of the recipients of the 20/20 Vision Awards is Allen M. Bailey, owner of Law Offices of Allen M. Bailey in Anchorage, Alaska. He has written extensively on domestic violence issues, serves on the AWAIC board and has taken on countless cases for victims of domestic violence. Read more here.
Technology Safety and Digital Abuse
The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) thanked Twitter for updating their rules to prohibit users from posting “intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject’s consent.” To read the press release from NNEDV, please click here. To read Twitter’s updated rules, please click here.
Google to remove ‘revenge porn’ from search results
Facebook has updated their “Community Standards” to include further protections for victims of sexual abuse. New Facebook standards now read, ” To protect victims and survivors, we also remove photographs or videos depicting incidents of sexual violence and images shared in revenge or without permissions from the people in the images.”
For a guide to Facebook’s privacy and security settings made in partnership with NNEDV and Facebook for victims of abuse, please click here.
Many phone hotlines for domestic violence, sexual assault and suicide are seeing major increase in online chat numbers. Could online chats and text-based advocacy help us support more people? Click here to learn more.
Sexual Assault in the Military

Special Investigator’s Report on Alaska National Guard Sexual Harassment and Abuse Issues

Pages from nsvrc_infographic_sexual-violence-in-the-military_1

To see the full list of sources for this infographic, please click on it. Provided by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.


The United States Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office website can be accessed by clicking here.
The Safe Helpline website has information about reporting, resources and access to 24/7 hotlines. The Safe Helpline is run by Rape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).
In Alaska, statewide services are provided to members of the military and their families through the Alaska National Guard Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program. This program serves all branches of the military in Alaska, both active and reserves. The local contact number is (907) 428-6219 or you can call the national Department of Defense Self Helpline at (877) 995-5247.
 

Untested Rape Kits

There are an unknown number of “rape kits” or DNA evidence collected in response to sexual assaults in both the nation and in Alaska. Lack of DNA evidence can hinder successful prosecution of sexual assault crimes. This issue has recently received both national and local attention.
Legislation calls for audit of Alaska crime lab’s untested rape kits as reported by Alaska Dispatch News.
FACT SHEET: Investments to Reduce the National Rape Kit Backlog and Combat Violence Against Women
Two different grants have been proposed by the Department of Justice to support state governments and law enforcement agencies in ending the rape kit backlog. The grant solicitations are available here or here.
Campus Sexual Assault 
Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Alaska system and Alaska Network on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault.
University of Alaska to launch sexual assault survey on March 2  from a news article by KTOO. The survey will go out to 15,000 randomly selected students, faculty and staff members.
UA Facebook
For a list of helpful resources on this issue, please click here to visit a resource list made by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
 
 
 
 
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