Improving Sexual Assault Response within Special Populations Webinar Series

Creating a victim-centered response to sexual assault within special populations is a critical component of improving support services to victims, maintaining victim engagement in the criminal justice process, and improving sexual assault case outcomes. A victim’s first impression of the criminal justice system happens at the time of the forensic exam and during the initial steps of reporting to law enforcement. This webinar series discussed important considerations to best support each victim in their unique circumstances with improved investigative and forensic examination techniques. The following topics were covered over the course of this series:

• Addressing sexual assault on university campuses
• Challenges surrounding sexual assault response in elderly populations
• Addressing issues related to responsible reporting and effective prevention initiatives

Collaborators and Funding

This webinar series is brought to you by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCOE) in collaboration with the following partners. Funding for this webinar series has been provided by the FTCOE.

Dr. Lyndsie N. Ferrara is a forensic science teaching assistant professor at Duquesne University. She is a former forensic biologist at the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory (USACIL), a forensics specialist/contractor for the Department of Justice's International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) and project coordinator for a DNA mixture interpretation software company. She began working in the Duquesne University Forensics Science and Law program in May 2012, as a grant coordinator/program assistant and became a faculty member in 2014. Lyndsie's primary area of research relates to ethics education in forensic science. She also continues work related to DNA mixture interpretation. She is actively engaged with the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence through workshops and report writing. Lyndsie has a B.S. in Biology, a M.S. in Forensic Science and Law and a Ph.D. in Healthcare Ethics.

Dr. Julie Valentine is an Assistant Professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) College of Nursing and a Certified Adult/Adolescent Sexual Assault Nurse with Wasatch Forensic Nurses. Her clinical specialty and research focus areas are sexual violence, intimate partner violence, violence against women, and criminal justice system response to sexual violence. Dr. Valentine focuses on multidisciplinary, collaborative research studies uniting disciplines in sexual assault case reform to benefit victims and case processing.

Teresa M. Stafford is the Senior Director of Victim Services and Outreach at Cleveland Rape Crisis Center (CRCC). Ms. Stafford oversees the agency’s 24-hour response to survivors, criminal justice advocacy, Project STAR (sex trafficking, advocacy and recovery), and administers professional development trainings across the state and national levels. Ms. Stafford has over 20 years of experience providing direct service to both offenders and victims of crime, with specialization in sexual violence, domestic violence, and families of homicide victims.