Sexual Violence in Minnesota: A Resource Manual for Advocates

388 Pages·2010·3.96 MB·English

Sexual
Violence in
Minnesota:
A Resource
Manual for
Advocates

Acknowledgements

Believe it or not, revising the MNCASA Advocacy Manual was no small task! We could never
have gotten through it alone. The MNCASA staff would like to acknowledge and thank the
following people for their time and contributions to the revision of this manual.

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Sexual Assault Program of Beltrami, Cass and Hubbard Counties; MMMMeeeellllaaaannnniiiieeee MMMMaaaattttssssoooonnnn, HOPE
Center; NNNNiiiiccccoooolllleeee TTTTaaaabbbbbbbbuuuutttt, Someplace Safe; JJJJuuuuddddeeee FFFFoooosssstttteeeerrrr, Sexual Violence Center; SSSSuuuussssaaaannnn CCCCllllaaaarrrrkkkk
HHHHaaaarrrrrrrriiiissss, Sexual Assault Services of Aitkin County; JJJJaaaayyyymmmmeeee JJJJaaaacccckkkkssssoooonnnn, Blue Earth County Sexual
Violence Resource Center; BBBBeeeetttthhhh OOOOllllssssoooonnnn, Program to Aid Victims of Sexual Assault; TTTTaaaammmmmmmmyyyy
FFFFrrrraaaannnnccccooooiiiissss, Program to Aid Victims of Sexual Assault; BBBBrrrrooooooookkkkeeee NNNNuuuunnnnnnnn, University of Minnesota
School of Public Health and Social Work Masters candidate; AAAAlllliiiicccciiiiaaaa BBBB.... NNNNiiiicccchhhhoooollllssss,,,, LLLLIIIICCCCSSSSWWWW, MN
Coalition for Battered Women.

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CCCCoooorrrrddddeeeelllliiiiaaaa AAAAnnnnddddeeeerrrrssssoooonnnn, Prevention Consultation & Training, Sensibilities, Inc., National Coalition
to Prevent Child Sexual Exploitation

JJJJeeeessssssssiiiiccccaaaa BBBBeeeelllllllloooocccckkkk, Community Action Council

NNNNaaaannnnccccyyyy BBBBeeeecccckkkkeeeessss, Chrysalis

VVVVeeeeddddnnnniiiittttaaaa CCCCaaaarrrrtttteeeerrrr, Breaking Free

BBBBoooonnnnnnnniiiieeee CCCCllllaaaaiiiirrrrmmmmoooonnnntttt, Tribal Law and Policy Institute

PPPPaaaauuuullllaaaa DDDDeeeettttjjjjeeeennnn, MN State Academy for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

DDDDrrrr.... PPPPeeeeggggggggyyyy HHHHaaaannnnssssoooonnnn, Northfield Allina Medical Health Clinic

MMMMaaaarrrryyyy HHHHaaaarrrrddddeeeerrrrssss, Crime Victim Services, Inc.

DDDDeeeerrrr HHHHeeeerrrr, Sexual Offense Services of Ramsey County

EEEEiiiilllleeeeeeeennnn HHHHuuuuddddoooonnnn, MN Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition

DDDDaaaannnniiii LLLLiiiinnnnddddeeeerrrr, Central MN Sexual Assault Center

KKKKaaaaaaaarrrriiiinnnn LLLLoooonnnngggg, Ramsey County Attorney’s Office

CCCCrrrraaaaiiiigggg MMMMaaaarrrrttttiiiinnnn, Central MN Sexual Assault Center

LLLLyyyyddddiiiiaaaa NNNNeeeewwwwlllliiiinnnn, MN Department of Corrections

PPPPoooollllllllyyyy PPPPoooosssskkkkiiiinnnn, Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault
VVVViiiiccccttttoooorrrriiiiaaaa SSSSaaaallllaaaassss, LaMano

SSSStttteeeevvvveeeennnn SSSSaaaawwwwyyyyeeeerrrr,,,, LLLLIIIICCCCSSSSWWWW,,,, CCCCGGGGPPPP, Project Pathfinder, Inc.

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Disclaimer

We realize that when we choose our language we communicate a value. Many words have
a multiplicity of meanings which require us to truly consider the meaning of our message.
Due to the nature and history of sexual violence we must grant special attention to the
language we use. As the violence against women movement has progressed, so has our
language. We no longer consider sexual violence to be synonymous with rape. Acts of
sexual violence now include/encompass unwanted touching, stalking, sexual harassment,
rape, marital rape, and the list goes on.

As we revised and compiled this sexual assault advocate training manual we wanted to
offer a disclaimer and thoughtful discussion into the language we chose. The committee’s
discussion of current language and terminology resulted in (determined) the following:

• Throughout the manual the term Advocate will replace the word Counselor unless

referring to mental health service providers.
• Throughout the manual the term Sexual Violence will be used instead of Rape or

Sexual Assault unless referring to a specific form of perpetrated violence.
• Throughout the manual the terms Victim/Survivor will be used versus using one or the

other.
• Throughout the manual the term Client will continue to be used.
• The terms Rape crisis center and sexual assault program will be replaced by the term

“sexual violence advocacy center” (or program or agency).

The manual will include a list of definitions in the Introduction, referring to the terms and
language used throughout the manual. In addition, statements will indicate language and
terms used interchangeably. We expect that discordance may exist around this and we
respect that each agency/organization may have a preference for certain language and
terminology. Please use this manual as a basis for thoughtful discussion and learning.
Table of Contents

Introduction
1 A Brief History of the Anti-Rape Movement
14 Feminism and a Gendered Analysis of Sexual Violence as a Basis
for Practice: Illustrating the Theory Behind Sexual Assault Advocacy
16 White Privilege
19 History of the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault
23 Sexual Assault in Minnesota
25 Myths and Facts About Sexual Violence
28 Definitions

The Spectrum of Sexual Violence
1 Intimate Partner Sexual Violence
5 Sexual Assault on College Campuses
9 Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault
13 Sexual Harassment: A Matter of Power
21 Stalking
35 Indecent Exposure
37 Child Sexual Abuse
45 Incest
47 Sexual Violence by Multiple Perpetrators (Gang Rape)
51 Prostitution
55 Sex Trafficking in Minnesota
57 Pornography
65 Sexual Violence and the Internet
67 Female Genital Mutilation
69 Sexual Violence Within Prisons
73 Sexual Exploitation by Professionals

Reactions and Responses to Sexual Violence
1 Impact Wheel
6 Rape Trauma Syndrome: Possible Victim/Survivor Reactions and
Responses
12 Flashbacks
14 Dissociation
16 Repressed Memory
18 Rape Trauma Syndrome and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
22 Facts About Suicidal Calls
26 Eating Disorders
30 Self-Injury
34 Secondary Victims
Advocacy
1 Introduction to Advocacy
10 Crisis Intervention
13 Confidentiality
16 Active Listening and Communication Skills
26 Developing and Demonstrating Healthy Boundaries
33 Self Care for Advocates
37 Guidelines for Making an Appropriate Referral
39 Working with Other Service Providers and Professionals
40 Choices in Healing

Health and Medical Issues
1 Health and Medical Issues in Sexual Violence: An Overview
37 HIV/AIDS Glossary
40 HIV Testing Sites in Minnesota

Legal Issues
1 Introduction to Law Enforcement and Legal Issues
2 Sexual Violence: The Legal Aspects
27 Community Notification

Sexual Violence and Underserved Populations
1 Cultural Sensitivity and Cultural Competency in Assisting Victims/
Survivors of Sexual Violence
3 Sexual Violence in the Black Community
9 Native Women: Creating a Response to Sexual Violence
31 Latina Victims/Survivors of Sexual Violence
37 Working with Male Victims/Survivors
47 Sexual Violence and Persons Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
59 Sexual Violence and People with Disabilities
63 Sexual Violence in the LGBT Community
65 Sexual Violence in the Transgendered Community
69 Sexual Violence in Later Life
73 Sexual Violence and the Immigrant and Refugee Communities in
Minnesota
79 Sexual Violence in Southeast Asian Communities

Sexual Offenders
1 Sex Offenders: An Introduction
4 Myths and Facts About Sex Offenders
12 Grooming of Victims
14 Issues in Treating Adults Who Commit Sexual Crimes

Prevention
1 The Prevention of Sexual Violence

Program Information
Introduction
A Brief History of the

Anti-Rape Movement

By Polly Poskin, Executive Director, Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, September 2006
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• The Anti rape movement of the 1970s did not materialize out of thin air.
•
Rape of women has historical roots in understanding women as the property of men, a
legal, historical, and cultural context around the world.
•
The anti-rape movement owes its genesis to other social justice movements of the last
two centuries, including the women’s suffrage movement, the anti-war movement of
the 60s, and the Civil Rights Movement of the 50s.
•
The anti-rape movement has grown and changed between 1970 and now. What be-
gan as a radical change movement has become mainstream as evidenced by local,
state, and federal funding that supports advocacy, systems change, and prevention.
• As a movement, we continue to assess our effectiveness in providing services and
changing norms to make sexual violence a thing of the past.
The anti-rape movement of the 1970s did not materialize from thin air. Like all significant changes in the
evolution of human history, the Anti-rape Movement is – on the one hand – a manifestation of the gradual
progress of an evolving culture and – at the same time – a noticeable shift in the prevailing norms, mores,
and beliefs of that culture.

The word “rape” is derived from the Latin “rapere”, meaning “to steal, seize, or carry away.” Forcible
seizure and rape were accepted methods of claiming a wife in early history – and, in some cultures, this still
occurs. Owning property and gaining wealth were considered marks of manhood. This ownership revolved
around possessions and, without a wife, a man’s linage would end. According to Susan Brownmiller in
Against Our Will, “Concepts of hierarchy, slavery and private property flowed from, and could only be
predicated upon, the initial subjugation of women.”1

Throughout most of history, rape was not viewed as a crime because women were considered property, and,
therefore, without rights. Like taking land, men took women as an act of aggression; an affirmation of their
strength and masculinity. In most cultures, marriages were arranged when the groom purchased the bride
from her father. Rape was initially considered a crime only in terms of the property violation of another
man. Punishment was delivered to a man who damaged the husband’s property – his wife – by rape. Very
often the raped woman would also be punished as an adulteress, regardless of her lack of complicity in the
assault. For instance, ancient Hebrew women who were raped were considered defiled, and stoned to
death.

Throughout English history, punishment for rape included castration or death of the rapist. However, to
receive legal justice, a victim had to be born into the privileged classes: “…if a member of the feudal class
committed his crimes against anyone other than the king or a great lord, he was fairly safe from
prosecution, or at least from punishment,” wrote Sidney Painter in History of the Middle Ages. Prior to the
thirteenth century, a raped woman had to be a wealthy, propertied virgin to have legal recourse against her
attacker.
Introduction 1
In the late thirteenth century, English laws were rewritten to exact a penalty of
death upon a man who raped an unmarried or married woman (except his
own wife). Although this law was rarely enforced, it was one of the first laws
making rape against all women a crime.

By the late 1700’s in the United States, women, seemingly one by one,
recognized the powerlessness of women in the face of male domination in the
educational, social, political, and economic institutions of this emerging
nation.

Mary Wollstonecraft wrote the Vindication of the Rights of Women in 1790.
Wollstonecraft recognized the failure of contemporary education for girls and
the powerlessness of women in unhappy marriages. She ridiculed the notion
of women as meek and modest; as attractive and shallow playthings for men.
She maintained that women should be equal partners to their husbands. For
the first time, a woman put words to the experience and perception of many
women – these words served as a galvanizing force.

Women “galvanizing as a force” began with the anti-slavery movement. The
Grimke sisters, Angelina and Sarah, were among early activists in the anti-
slavery movement during the 1830s. They were born into a slaveholding
family, but rejected their family and joined the Quakers who were notable
abolitionists. They published a letter in the anti-slavery newspaper, and later
went on speaking tours against slavery and championed the rights of women.
Work in the anti-slavery movement thrust women into the political, activist
arena. This work gave women a forum for discussing injustice and
recognizing the similarities with all women’s lives.

The Women’s Rights Convention of 1848 solidified because men attempted to
silence the women at the earlier Anti-Slavery Convention. The 1848
convention represented the first major national organizing around women’s
rights. This convention grew out of abolitionism, which taught them how to
organize, publicize, and articulate a political protest. Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
*
Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and Lucretia Mott are considered among the
mothers of the early feminist movement. They were also abolitionists who
loosely held the belief that women were, in some sense, slaves, too.
Incidents of sexual assault are
a part of the historical cycle of
Over 200 women attended the 1848 convention. The delegates passed the
violence.
Declaration of Sentiments, written like the Declaration of Independence –
calling on women to organize and petition for their rights. The right to vote
passed by a narrow margin and was quite controversial – and a reflection of
the racism so pervasive then (and now); tragically, women of color were not
included in the right to vote. That decision and others resulted in a schism
between white women and women of color that continues today.

Sojourner Truth connected the issues of women and race. She spoke of the
role of black women in the fight for women’s rights in her famous speech
“Ain’t I A Woman?”

In 1866, when the Memphis Riots occurred, Congress held hearings about the
chaos and brutality during the riots. Black women testified before Congress
about being gang raped by a white mob. These women were perhaps the first
Introduction 2