Sexual Assault: What domestic
violence providers need to know
Scott Hampton, Psy.D.
December 2-4
Lexington, KY
Sexual violence?
Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil
Turf wars or hot potato?
“In most areas we fight to get our fair share.
However, when it comes to violence against
women, particularly sexual violence, we tend
to run the other way.”
“I only see child abuse cases; I don’t
deal with domestic violence. . . .
though occasionally I do see women
who endanger their kids by not leaving
an abusive father”
“I don’t work with rape survivors, I
only work with battered women”
“I could never work with sex offenders;
it’s bad enough working with
batterers”
“I’ve done a lot of work with batterers,
but never with stalkers. I wonder if
there is a good training program
around here.”
Intimate partner violence
Stalking
Sexual violence
Domestic Violence
Overlaps of DV, Stalking and SA
• Batterers are six times more likely
to incest their daughters than
non-batterers
• Reproductive abuse: 30% of ER
visits during pregnancy is DV
related; #1 cause of death
• Batterers use sexual violence
against their partners and use
sexual violence against their
children to manipulate their
partners
• Sex offenders batter their
partners to ensure that they are
not reported for child abuse
• Batterers stalk in legal ways
•
Stalkers batter when they gain
access
•
Sex offenders stalk their potential
victims as an early part of the
grooming process
•
Domestic violence victims are
sometimes forced to participate in
the sexual offense of their children
or to submit to sexual abuse to
protect their children
•
DV victims are often reluctant to
report child sexual abuse for fear of
being accused of false reporting,
PAS, DRMMS, HAP
•
Sexual violence is strongly
correlated with persistent stalking
“Exploring the Intersection of Partner Stalking and Sexual Abuse”
T.K. Logan (forthcoming issue of VAWJ)
Why don’t we see sexual violence?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
No harm, no foul
Do not disturb
Never happened
Prohibition
It’s only a woman
It was her job
The make-up sex is
great
8. Hooking up
9. Mood enhancers
10. Rape as adultery
11. It can’t happen
12. Not my job
13. Strictly confidential
14. Don’t make her
uncomfortable
15. It’s not relevant
1.No harm, no foul
Which of these are sexual crimes?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Vaginal penetration
Anal penetration
Fondling
Kissing
Bondage
Exposing genitals
Not wearing a condom when you have an STD
Telling someone what you plan to do to them sexually
Transporting a person across state or national lines for
sexual purposes
• Watching a person undress from another room
• Taking pictures of a naked person who is not your spouse
2. Do not disturb
Privacy
“I have been working with Holocaust survivors
in Israel since ‘78, but it didn’t even occur to
me to ask about sexual assault. These people
had lost so much of their dignity and privacy. I
didn’t want to take that last bit of privacy
from them.”
-Eva Fogelman (NYC Psychologist and author of “Sexual
Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust”)
3.Never happened
Evidence of the attack
“If you are stabbed, there is blood; punched,
you have a black eye, bruise or broken bone,
but sexually assaulted? There may be no
physical evidence at all. Even a rape kit can’t
prove it wasn’t consensual.”
“He said, she said”
“Although I truly believe this
encounter between us was
consensual, I recognize now
that she did not and does
not view this incident the
same way I did. After
months of reviewing
discovery, listening to her
attorney, and even her
testimony in person, I now
understand how she feels
that she did not consent to
this encounter.”
Is consent a matter of opinion or is this a confession?
Did you rape her?
• Study including 229 diverse men in a BIP:
– 53% acknowledged engaging at least once in
conduct that met the legal definition of rape or
sexual assault,
– but only 8% answered "yes" to the question "Have
you ever sexually abused your partner?"
• (Bergen & Bukovec, Men and Intimate Partner Rape, 2006)
4.Prohibition
Abstinence-only education
Some studies show a higher rate of teen
pregnancy in jurisdictions that adhere to the
abstinence-only “curriculum.” To illustrate, Bristol
Palin, who earned $262,000 as an Abstinence
Ambassador told Fox News that abstinence was
“not realistic at all.” This is the voice of experience
since she became pregnant at age 18.
5.It’s only a woman
Case against Kobe Bryant dropped
By T.R. Reid, Washington Post | September 2, 2004
EAGLE, Colo. -- Kobe Bryant's rape trial ended just as it was beginning
yesterday when a Colorado judge dismissed the felony sexual assault
charge against the Los Angeles Lakers guard and barred prosecutors from
filing new charges in the case.
No charges against Roethlisberger
Updated: April 12, 2010, 9:51 PM ET
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. -- Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger
won't face criminal charges after a 20-year-old college student accused
him of sexually assaulting her inside a nightclub's bathroom. But what
happened in that restroom after a night of drinking remains a mystery.
Apologetic Vick gets 23-month sentence on dogfighting charges
Updated: December 11, 2007, 3:49 PM ET
ESPN.com news services
Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison and three
years' probation for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy. The suspended
Falcons quarterback is looking at a scheduled release of July 2009.
Just because Michael Vick was a star athlete, doesn’t mean he could get away
with hurting animals.
Child abuse vs. wife abuse
“When I went to prison (for molesting a
six year-old girl), I didn’t tell the other
inmates what I did. Instead, I told them
that I was there for raping, strangling
and killing my wife. . . . Sometimes they
would even high-five me. I was a hero
instead of a skinner.”
“We send batterers to “intervention”
programs, while we send sex offenders
to “treatment” programs. The
philosophies are clearly different.”
Deviant arousal or non-consensual
Normal / Consensual
Deviant /
Consensual
Normal/
Nonconsensual
Deviant /
Nonconsensual
Deviant arousal or non-consensual
Normal / Consensual
(Marital intercourse)
Deviant /
Consensual
(Sodomy)
Normal/
Nonconsensual
Deviant /
Nonconsensual
(Rape)
(Child molestation)
Deviant arousal or non-consensual
Normal / Consensual
(Marital intercourse)
Deviant /
Consensual
(Sodomy)
Normal/
Nonconsensual
Deviant /
Nonconsensual
(Rape)
(Child molestation)
Deviant arousal or non-consensual
Normal / Consensual
(Marital intercourse)
Deviant /
Consensual
(Sodomy)
Normal/
Nonconsensual
Deviant /
Nonconsensual
(Rape)
(Child molestation)
Sodomy laws
“I have no problem with
homosexuality; I have a
problem with
homosexual acts.”
Rick Santorum, April 7, 2003
In Lawrence v. Texas
(2003) The U.S. Supreme
Court ruled sodomy laws
unconstitutional on both
privacy and equal
protection grounds.
John Geddes Lawrence and
Tyron Garner
6.It was her job
Prostitution and pornography
“Nowhere has men’s oppression of women
been more successful than within the
institutions of prostitution and pornography.
Not only do they allow men to objectify
women, but also to ridicule and criminalize
them.”
The job no one wants to do
• Imagine you have a septic tank on your property. You
want it cleaned out and would rather not do it yourself.
The company sends someone out who performs the
task perfectly well for a reasonable price.
• Do you:
– Call him demeaning and offensive names?
– Accuse him of being a pervert for his apparent scatalogical
fixation?
– Support legislation to make it a crime to clean out septic
tanks because it’s just downright disgusting? (And then after
it is outlawed, continue to hire them to do it anyway,
because you still want it done?)
7.The make-up sex is great
From the clothesline project
8. Hooking up
“According to a study, traditional dating is
being replaced with no-strings-attachedcasual hookups which is where only the
woman thinks you’re dating.”
(Seth Meyers, SNL 4/2/2011)
9. Mood enhancers
The most common date rape drug is:
A.
Roofies
B.
GHB
C.
Ketamine
Ladies night is for the benefit of women, right?
“Once the anesthetic takes effect, we
can begin the procedure”
10. Rape as adultery
• A Nigerian woman was raped on her way home.
She was arrested for committing adultery and
sentenced by the tribal council to death by
stoning. The council decided not to carry out the
sentence immediately since her rapist had
impregnated her. They would allow her to carry
the pregnancy to term before executing her.
• In the meantime, persistent international appeals
to the Nigerian Government to intervene on her
behalf were successful. Her life was saved.
11. It can’t happen
Marital rape exemption
It wasn’t until 1993 when all
states had at least begun to
address marital rape in their
statutes. But even today,
more than twenty states still
minimize the severity of
marital rape as evidenced by
discounted sentences, briefer
statutes of limitation and/or
rules of evidence as
compared to stranger rape.
Marital consent
• True or False? “Sex offenders perpetrate
because of having no consensual sex
partners.”
• “False. 22% of imprisoned rapists report that
they are married.”
(Sex Offenses and Offenders, BJS, U.S. DOJ, February 1997)
California removes
marital rape exemption
• In 1979, when California removed the marital
rape exemption from its statutes, Bob Wilson,
a CA state senator asked a group of women “If
you can’t rape your own wife, who can you
rape?”
“Clean up in aisle seven”
Usually in NJ, you have to wait 72 hours after application to receive
a marriage license. However:
37:1-5. Immediate marriage if arrested upon criminal charge
If a person is arrested upon a criminal charge, involving an
accusation of bastardy, rape, fornication or of having had carnal
knowledge of an unmarried female, and the accused person
consents to marry such female, any licensing officer is authorized to
immediately issue a marriage license irrespective of the provisions
of sections 37:1-3 and 37:1-4 of this Title.
Why allow a rapist to bypass the 72-hour waiting period?
Sexual violence and lethality
• Battered women who were sexually assaulted
by an intimate partner were 7.6 times more
likely to die than other victims.
Sexual violence and lethality
The bivariate analysis showed that “certain
characteristics of intimate partner violence are
associated with intimate partner femicide. . . .
However, these risk factors, [stalking,
strangulation, forced sex, abuse during
pregnancy, a pattern of escalating severity and
frequency of physical violence, perpetrator
suicidality, perception of danger on the part of
the victim, and child abuse] with the exception of
forced sex, were not associated with intimate
partner femicide risk in the multivariate analysis.”
12. Not my job
High Risk Case Response Teams
The Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center formed the
Greater Newburyport High Risk Case Response
Team following a domestic violence related
homicide in our community. Using the research
work of Jacquelyn C. Campbell, Ph.D., R.N., and
F.A.A.N., founder of the Danger Assessment tool;
a questionnaire designed to assess the potential
for lethality in domestic violence cases, this multidisciplinary team takes a comprehensive
approach to help protect victims at high risk.
First complaint witness
“Prosecution can only use one
witness to verify the victim’s
disclosure of the attack. And
that person must be the first
one the victim talked to.
“We don’t want first
responders (who are usually
not trained investigators) to
be that person by asking
about sexual violence. We’d
rather wait and have the
investigator ask later.”
13. Strictly confidential
Triage for dangerousness
“Our confidentiality laws in
Colorado prohibit the
disclosure of privileged
communications between
advocates and victims.
Therefore, we do not ask our
triage team, which would
need to share information
among team members, to ask
about sexual violence.”
14. Don’t make her uncomfortable
Lethality Assessment
“Officers were reluctant to ask
about sexual violence due to
their own discomfort talking
about rape and the discomfort
of the victims.”
However, “When asked
directly by health care
professionals about sexual
abuse, women respond
without objection.” (Campbell,
et al. 2003).
The Lethality Assessment
Protocol (LAP) does not
screen for sexual abuse.
15. It’s not relevant
Rape and strangulation
“Since this training is about
strangulation, it would not be
complete without mentioning
all forms including autoerotic
asphyxiation. But while this
accidentally and tragically
leads to death, it is not what
we are dealing with in
domestic violence cases.”
Consequently, the model
strangulation protocol they
developed does not include
any questions about sexual
assault.
Strangulation checklist
(Model protocol developed by Strack, McLean, Hawley)
1. Ask the victim to describe and demonstrate how she was
strangled. Take photographs.
2. Document whether victim was strangled with 1 or 2 hands?
Forearm? Objects?
3. If an object was used to strangle the victim, locate,
photograph, and impound the object.
4. Determine if the suspect was wearing any jewelry, such as
rings or watches? Look for pattern evidence.
5. If an object was used, how did it get there? Determine if the
suspect brought the object with him to the crime scene.
This information may be used to show premeditation.
6. What did the suspect say when he was strangling the victim?
Use quotes.
7. Describe the suspect’s demeanor and facial expression.
8. Was the victim shaken simultaneously while being strangled?
9. Was the victim thrown against the wall, floor, or ground?
Describe surface.
10. How long did the suspect strangle the victim?
11. How many times and how many different methods were
used to strangle the victim?
12. How much pressure or how hard was the grip?
13. Did the victim have difficulty breathing or hyperventilate?
14. Any complaint of pain to the throat?
15. Any trouble swallowing?
16. Any voice changes? Complaint of a hoarse or raspy voice?
17. Any coughing?
18. Did the victim feel dizzy, faint, or lose consciousness?
19. What did the victim think was going to happen? (E.g. Did
she think she was going to die?)
20. Did the victim, urinate or defecate as a result of being
strangled?
21. Was the victim pregnant at the time?
22. Did the victim feel nauseated or vomit?
23. Any visible injury however minor? If so, take photograph
and follow-up photos.
24. Any prior incidents of strangulation?
25. Any pre-existing injuries?
26. Were injuries shown to anyone? Any subsequent photos
taken?
27. Did the victim attempt to protect herself or himself?
Describe.
28. Any medical treatment recommended or obtained? If so,
obtain medical release.
29. Any witnesses?
30. Any sexual or sexual assault context?
Famous strangulation/rape cases
• Jack the Ripper
• Angelo Buono (The
Hillside Strangler)
• The Boston Strangler
• The Preppy Killer
(Robert Chambers)
• Ted Bundy (The Campus
Killer)
• Rodney Alcala (The
Dating game killer)
• William Bonin (The
Freeway Killer)
• Jerry Brudos (Shoe
Fetish Killer; Lust Slayer)
• Dean Corll (The Candy
Man)
• John Wayne Gacy (Killer
Clown)
• Kobe Bryant (non fatal)
Not-so-famous cases
• Alabama: “Danny Joe Bradley was executed Thursday for the
rape and strangulation of his 12-year-old stepdaughter.”
• Alaska: “The victim was choked unconscious, bound with duct
tape, driven to Sholes’ home and raped.”
• Arizona:
“Rosales is wanted in Tucson, Ariz. in the rape and
strangulation of his 74-year-old landlady.”
• Arkansas: “Twenty-one-year-old Vernon Kip Capshaw had
been charged with capital murder and rape, for the
strangulation deaths of two women.”
Alarming prevalence
• In a study of 133 homicides secondary to
asphyxia in the Bexar County, TX Medical
Examiner’s Office from 1985-1998, sexual
assault was the motive in 66% of female
victims of ligature strangulation and in 52% of
those due to manual strangulation.
Beginning the conversation
• Ask about sexual violence
• Validate feelings and reactions
• Draw the line:
educate about consent and
the culture of rape
How to know if you live in a rape
culture
• Inequality
• Abuse of power
• Justification of abuse
• Coercive tactics
• Lack of accountability