Legal Momentum’s National Judicial Education Program to Train Thousands of Law Enforcement Officers through Web Course

December 6, 2011 -

Legal Momentum’s National Judicial Education Program (NJEP) recently learned that 5,000 Kentucky law enforcement officers will focus their 2012 domestic abuse training on intimate partner sexual abuse, through NJEP’s web course/resource, Intimate Partner Sexual Abuse: Adjudicating This Hidden Dimension of Domestic Violence Cases.                                      

Sexual abuse is far more prevalent in cases involving other forms of intimate partner violence than is generally recognized.  Recent research with battered women reveals that intimate partner sexual abuse is a hidden but frequent aspect of family violence with significant implications for the justice system.  A man who subjects his partner to sexual as well as physical violence is seven times more likely to kill her than a man who subjects his partner to physical violence only.  Sexual abuse of a parent also has extremely negative implications for children, another aspect of risk assessment.

NJEP’s web course provides current interdisciplinary research from law, medicine and the social sciences on all aspects of intimate partner sexual abuse.  The web course contains 13 in-depth modules on issues ranging from risk assessment to cultural defenses, four civil and four criminal case studies, and several interactive elements.  Since publication it has been accessed by over 10,000 users worldwide.  Funded by the State Justice Institute and the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women, registration is free and open to all at www.njep-ipsacourse.org.

The wealth of information provided on the web course can be used for education and training for a number of professions, including law, criminal justice, social work, and medicine.  For more information on the Intimate Partner Sexual Abuse web course and all of NJEP’s educational materials, please visit www.njep.org.  A description of all of NJEP's materials and resources on adult victim sexual assault is available here.