Helping Sexual Assault Victims Navigate the Criminal Justice System: Effective Use of a Multidisciplinary Approach

This webinar was originally presented on December 15, 2016 to OVW Legal Assistance for Victims grantees and others interested in this topic.

The criminal justice system can be daunting, even for those well-versed in its process. But for sexual assault victims, navigating the criminal justice system can be traumatic in itself. Law enforcement, attorneys, and victim advocates can all play a role in ensuring that the criminal justice system functions with fairness and respect for all involved. For many victim advocates, the criminal justice system and how they fit into it is a confusing maze. This 90-minute webinar encourages participants to embrace a multidisciplinary approach to sexual assault prosecutions.

The webinar explores what it means to take a victim-centered, multidisciplinary approach to sexual assault cases and highlight crime victims’ rights. It identifies for victim advocates the ways they can be an integral part of each stage of the criminal justice system, helping sexual assault victims more easily navigate, and fully participate in, the criminal justice system. It highlights for the law enforcement and/or prosecution audience the ways they can encourage and embrace victim advocates at each stage of the prosecution, and how this multidisciplinary approach can better support victims, strengthen the prosecution’s case, and contribute to the overall success of the criminal justice process for sexual assault victims.

Presenter: Jennifer Becker, Legal Momentum Staff Attorney and former sex crimes prosecutor.

A PDF of the webinar slides are available for download at the top of this page.