NCJ Number
206933
Date Published
October 2003
Length
175 pages
Annotation
This handbook provides comprehensive information on sexual assault in the State of West Virginia, as well as information specific to issues of sexual harassment, stalking, child victims, sexual assault survivors, and drug-facilitated sexual assault.
Abstract
Sexual assault is a crime of hate, rage, and violence, yet it continues to be one of the most under-reported crimes. This handbook supported by the U.S. Department of Justice, Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and prepared by the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services, provides information specific to the violent crime of sexual assault. Within this realm, it maintains information specific to sexual harassment, stalking, child victims, drug-facilitated sexual assault, and sexual assault survivors. For sexual harassment, the handbook attempts to answer the questions of what, when, and how of sexual harassment and the golden rules for avoiding sexual harassment. The issue of stalking becomes much more in-depth in answering the questions of who, what, when, how, and why as they relate to stalking, Federal and State statutes, protective orders, cyberstalking, and sexual exploitation of children on the Internet. In relation to the child victim, the handbook provides a comprehensive overview of that includes a medical evaluation, medical and evidentiary examination, child interview, and post-examination information. Drug-facilitated sexual assault examines specific drugs, such as Rohypnol, GHB (Gamma Hydroxbutyrate Acid), Ketamine, and Ecstasy. In discussing the survivors of sexual assault, the handbook identifies the special needs of both adult and child survivors and specifically, a teenager, a victim with a disability, a victim who is deaf, the elderly, a victim who is gay or lesbian, and if the victim is a male. The handbook also provides a complete overview of the West Virginia Protocol for child victims including victim advocate response, law enforcement response, medical response, and prosecution response, resources available to sexual assault victims, statistics on rape, and State statutes on sexual abuse and sexual assault.