APRIL IS SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH

The statistics are sobering.

Jefferson County, Indiana (April 22, 2022) - The statistics are sobering. 

Every 68 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. And every 9 minutes, the victim is a child. RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) also reports that an average of 433,600 Americans age 12 and older are sexually assaulted or raped each year and 60,000 children are victims of substantiated or indicated sexual abuse.

“Rape and sexual assault are big problems that are not talked about openly in our society,” said Jefferson County Prosecutor David R. Sutter. “That needs to change. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. It is a great time to educate the public about our Sexual Assault Response Team (SART).”

State law mandates that every county have a SART to comply with duties under the statute for sexual assault victim response. Jefferson County had a SART protocol in place for several years, but it did not operate formally as a team, said Prosecutor Sutter.

“My initial goal was the develop a revised protocol to ensure that we were not only complying with the state mandate, but also providing the best services to victims of sexual assault,” said Prosecutor Sutter. “A big part of that goal was to work with Norton King’s Daughters’ Health to start a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program.”

Previously, victims of sexual assault and rape had to travel at least an hour to receive a sexual assault examination. Sexual assault overwhelmingly impacts women with 90% of victims being female.

The SANE program at NDH began in March of 2022. SANE nurses have specialized training in forensic, psychosocial and medical care following a sexual assault. SANE programs are better able to meet the physical and mental health care needs of victims and are better at evidence collection, which translates into higher prosecution rates.

To establish the SART, the prosecutor’s office began meeting with key stakeholders in 2019, including law enforcement, health care and victim advocacy. The meetings continued through 2020, culminating with a draft of the SART agreement, which was signed in January 2021.

Local SART members are the Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office, Safe Passage Inc., Child Advocacy Center of Southeast Indiana, Norton King’s Daughters’ Health, Hanover College, Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana State Police, City of Madison Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Town of Hanover Police Department and the Department of Child Services.

The local SART received assistance on the state level from Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking, Inc. and the Indiana Youth Services Association.

“Rape and sexual assault are scourges on our society. My office takes every such case very seriously. I’m proud of the work all the local agencies have put in to develop our SART and SANE,” said Prosecutor Sutter. “Our local response is now more organized and thorough than ever before and that makes a big difference in how we help our rape and sexual assault survivors move forward.”