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2014-2015 Virginia Statewide Needs Assessment on Underserved Victims of Sexual & Domestic Violence

In 2014-2015, the Partnership for Community Defined Solutions2 conducted a statewide needs assessment which included a survey of service providers and a series of focus group interviews with service providers and survivors of sexual and domestic violence (SDV) in Virginia. The purpose of these activities was to assess the needs of underserved victims and the barriers they face to accessing services that increase victim safety and offender accountability.  See the full report for a summary of the project, including findings and next steps.

2015 Issue of “The Resource” from NSVRC

The Spring/Summer 2015 edition of The Resource shines a spotlight on campus sexual assault. Included in the special campus section are the following articles:

• 'The Hunting Ground': An interview with filmmaker Amy Ziering reveals it wasn't difficult to find survivors of campus sexual violence who wanted to tell their stories for the documentary film. "The sad thing is, there are way too many survivors," Ziering said.
• Director's Viewpoint: Karen Baker, Director of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, talks about a busy Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April 2015, the theme of which was "It's Time to Act: Safer Campuses, Brighter Futures. Prevent Sexual Violence."
• Prevention preparedness: Are coalitions in the U.S. ready to lead primary prevention, campus-based efforts?
• 'From compliance to commitment': The North Carolina Campus Consortium hosted its first-ever Campus Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Peer Educator's Summit.
• Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Photos from 30 busy days of activism.

Other topics covered in this issue include: effective social media advocacy, The Six Pillars for Prevention of child sexual abuse, the 2015 National Sexual Assault Conference in Los Angeles, and more.

Click here to view.

2015 Legislative Updates to Domestic and Sexual Violence Laws

2015 Virginia General Assembly legislative updates, including a few significant firearms bill vetoes. The bills that passed will become law as of 7/1/15. This Power Point is from a presentation by Susheela Varky to Virginia legal aid attorneys on June 3, 2015.

2015 U.S. Transgender Survey - Virginia State Report

The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS) is the largest survey examining the experiences of transgender people in the United States, with 27,715 respondents nationwide. The USTS was conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality in the summer of 2015. Of respondents in the USTS, 723 were Virginia residents.1 This report discusses the experiences of respondents living in Virginia.

2016 New Protective Order Law - What does it mean?

On July 1, the new law that prohibits persons subject to protective orders from possessing firearms will take effect. We have designed a brief FAQs sheet about the new law that provides some basic information on what the law does, what it doesn’t do, and outlines conversations/issues that communities need to be talking about to come up with protocols. It also provides a link to some best practices.

DCJS has also put some information up on their site.  This link has information on a recent brochure that DCJS developed on the new law, a list of law enforcement agencies who are willing to accept firearms, and a link to a new grant opportunity to fund pilot sites for implementing the new law.  In short, there is not a statewide directive for implementation.  Local courts, law enforcement, domestic violence programs and other stakeholders have to come together to come up with a plan for their locality.