This month is recognized as National Back-to-School month across the country and UCASA is participating by focusing on sexual violence on college campuses. We’re recognizing the important work of our partners on campuses across the state through our new #FactualFriday campaign. This campaign will share positive facts about the accomplishments of our community partners and efforts currently underway to eliminate sexual violence in Utah. Each Friday we'll post a series of facts about a specific topic, partner, or cause. This month we’re focused on the work being done on Utah’s college campuses.

In keeping with our theme of building a community for those working to end sexual violence in Utah, we’re growing our membership program, the Vanguard Network. This network is designed for anyone who is interested in supporting our statewide efforts to end sexual violence. If you like the work we’re doing, please consider joining the Vanguard Network by clicking here.

Our members are the backbone of our efforts and power the work that we’re doing in communities across the state. Here are the things that our members are making possible this month:

• We’re tabling at the Weber County Fair on August 10-12^th, 2017. We’re looking for volunteers to help cover and we’d love to have you join us. Details here.
• On August 17^th, we’ll be at the Davis County CARES Coalition meeting to support anti-sexual violence efforts in Davis County. We’re looking for engaged citizens to get involved. Learn more.

• On August 23^rd, we’re holding our first organizing meeting for the new Utah County Start by Believing Committee. The goal of this committee is to expand our Start by Believing campaign into Utah County and ensure that survivors receive the supportive response they deserve. Read more.
• On August 24^th, we’re partnering with the Utah Democratic Party to host a Back-to-School Bystander Intervention Skills Workshop. This course will focus on skill-building scenarios and will encourage attendees to practice facilitating educational activities such as bystander intervention pieces of training. Read more.
• On August 29^th, we’re partnering with several organizations at Utah Valley University to host a Back-to-School Bystander Intervention Skills Workshop. This course will focus on skill-building scenarios and will encourage attendees to practice facilitating educational activities such as bystander intervention pieces of training. Read more.

This is only a small portion of what we are doing and we hope that you’ll join us and get involved. Our work is powered by our membership program. Join us on the next step of our journey by becoming a member of our newly formed Vanguard Network. By making a monthly membership contribution to UCASA, you are joining the local movement to end sexual violence. Our members include community leaders with a wide range of interests, backgrounds, and experience working to combat sexual violence in our community.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or would like to schedule one of our events in your community. We are a statewide organization and love to support the work of our community partners across the state.

Thank you,
Turner C. Bitton
Executive Director
[email protected]
(801) 746-0404 Ext. 1

The Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault announced the creation of a new statewide LGBTQ Coordinating Council to ensure that LGBTQ survivors of and victims of sexual violence, as well as the broader LGBTQ community, are represented in victim services organizations, institutions, and partnerships that serve sexual violence survivors statewide.

“LGBTQ people experience violence at a disproportionate rate compared to our community at large,” said executive director Turner Bitton. “We believe fundamentally that LGBTQ people have unique insights, experiences, and backgrounds that will enrich and strengthen our efforts to end sexual violence in Utah.”

“We’re hoping to get a lot of interest from folks across the state who are interested in participating in the Council and ensure that LGBTQ people are represented throughout our work. This Council, at its core, is about building power and ensuring that LGBTQ people have a voice in the broader movement to end sexual violence,” said executive director Turner Bitton.

Bitton says that several studies indicate sexual violence is often an overlooked dimension of hate or bias-motivated crimes against adults who identify (or are perceived to be) LGBTQ. Sexual harassment between same-sex peers: Intersection of mental health, homophobia, and gays and lesbians are more likely to experience sexual violence compared to other groups typically targeted for hate crime victimization.

“All of this is particularly concerning because research also indicates that such hate crimes are less likely to be reported to authorities than other types of hate crimes, due to fears of bias against LGBTQ people who experience violence,” Bitton said.

The Council seeks to ensure adequate representation of LGBTQ survivors in all of Utah’s Sexual Assault Response Teams. These teams ensure a victim-centered response when sexual violence has been reported. This helps start the healing process, but also helps the survivor maintain the courage to go through the investigation and prosecution processes.

LGBTQ-affirming training will also be provided statewide to sexual violence programs, law enforcement, and any other institution that interacts with sexual violence survivors.

The group will also produce information for LGBTQ survivors of sexual violence, and will focus specifically on rural, underserved, and culturally-specific programs and communities.

UCASA has opened applications to the public for those who are interested in serving on the Council. Council members are expected to agree to a one year term on the Council. Members of the public who are interested in the council can find additional information at ucasa.org/LGBTQ.

This piece originally appeared in QSaltLake magazine. Click here to read the original article.

University of Utah administrators are taking steps to make the campus safer. The changes include mandatory sexual assault awareness training for students, faculty and staff.

U President David Pershing convened the Presidential Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault back in December when campus safety and sexual assault dominated news reports locally and nationwide. This week, Pershing approved nearly $400,000 in funding for the group’s recommendations. They include more lighting on campus, additional staff, mandatory safety and prevention training for everyone and a new website that Barb Snyder, vice president of student affairs says will be a resource for crime victims and people who have safety concerns. 

“How to report if something has happened to you,” Snyder says. “Making students feel like they can report, not just crimes but a light that’s out at night or they’re walking across campus and they feel, this doesn’t feel like a safe part of campus to me. They’ll be able to more easily report that as well.”

U employee Sheri Jardine thinks the sexual assault awareness course is a good idea.

“Especially students coming in who are young and maybe haven’t experienced a lot of life yet,” she says. “And then they get here and they’re on their own and I think it’s easy to miss where that line is.”

Zach Putnam is a sophomore. He agrees.

“Awareness always helps,” Putnam says. “But is it a massive problem here? I don’t know anyone personally but I hear stories all the time. Like in the news more than anything.”

Turner Bitton is with Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault. He says a safe campus can be defined in two ways. 

“There’s a recognition by staff and faculty and students, really the entire campus community that sexual assault will not be tolerated and that the university is committed to eliminating it,” Bitton says.

The second, he says is having systems in place to properly investigate reports of sexual assault. He says the U is well on its way to achieving both.

This piece originally appeared on kuer.org/kuer 90.1FM. Click here to read the original article and listen to the recording of the broadcast.

The impact of sexual violence on people in a plural marriage relationship can be complicated. In Utah, the state’s Coalition Against Sexual Assault is working with victims who struggle to find support for families who may have more than one spouse. Many legal issues and feelings of isolation can complicate matters for those who need help.

Plural marriage, which is better known as polygamy, is illegal in the U.S. However, there are still those who have more than one spouse. For some, this practice is religious, for others it is culture based. Alina Darger has one husband and two sisterwives. She is the founder of Cherish Families, an organization that focuses on helping domestic abuse and sexual assault victims in a plural marriage context. She said there are a lot of assumptions about her and others who are in a plural marriage.

“I’ve been asked a couple of times in my life how I escaped polygamy or questions about my prophet Warren Jeffs, which I’ve never met him, I don’t know anything about him,” she said. 

Darger is part of a group of independents that practice plural marriage because of religious reasons but do not belong to any specific church. Each group and family has varying beliefs that range from fairly modern lives like the Darger’s, to more conservative lives and dress that you might see in someone who is part of the FLDS group, formerly led by Warren Jeffs. Because of the stigma surrounding plural marriage and various raids targeting this population, Darger says many people don’t get help when they need it.

Salt Lake City, UT, June 6, 2017– Utah’s federally-recognized sexual violence coalition, the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault announced the addition of three community members to the Board of Directors of the organization. UCASA is that engages individuals and organizations in local and statewide collaborations to strengthen the effectiveness of sexual violence education, prevention and response in Utah. The new members of the Board of Directors represent a wide range of experiences and backgrounds. 

"We are thrilled to welcome Suzanne, Marty, and Naeim to the Board of Directors. They each bring a wealth of knowledge regarding issues of public policy, finance, and victim advocacy to our organization. We look forward to their input and participation in helping UCASA accomplish its mission to end sexual violence in Utah." -Laurie Hofmann, UCASA Board Chair

The leadership team of UCASA reflects the broader collaborative spirit of UCASA: only by bringing together people from all sectors of society can we create innovative solutions that address the issue of sexual assault in our communities. Media professionals seeking a full list of members of the UCASA Board of Directors should visit the Board of Directors section of this website.

Added to the Board of Directors are:

Dr. Suzanne Harrison

Dr. Suzanne Harrison practices at Riverton Hospital where she is Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology. She is a graduate of Stanford University, received her M.D. at the University of Utah Medical School.

Born and raised in Provo, she and her husband John are raising their three children in Draper. Dr. Harrison is a previous candidate for District 32 of the Utah House of Representatives.

She enjoys traveling and the amazing outdoor opportunities that Utah offers, including skiing, hiking, and mountain biking with her family.

Mr. Marty Liccardo

Marty has been an anti-violence educator and activist for over 15 years. He has extensive experience speaking and training students, faculty, and staff at colleges and universities around the US as well as providing programming in the public and private sector. Marty will provide in-depth, and interactive presentations, programs, training and keynote speeches. He uniquely uses humor and direct engagement to inform, guide and support audiences into critical thought and active personal commitment.

Marty's professional career has been with college and university students, and he has a broad range of programming and presenting experience. Currently, Marty serves as the Men's Engagement Specialist for the Utah Department of Health, coordinating statewide efforts to engage men in anti-violence work. He is also the co-founder of the Men's Anti-Violence Network (MAN) of Utah.

Mr. Naeim Sobhani

Naeim is a refugee from Iran. He is grateful for the opportunities he has in this country, and he tries to give back to the community. He received a Bachelors of Finance from the University of Utah, and now he is working on his Masters in Finance. Naeim is a financial analyst at Zions Bancorporation.

He enjoys hiking, fishing, biking and volunteering during the summer and sitting on his couch during winter.

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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact UCASA’s Executive Director Turner Bitton at (801) 746-0404 Ext. 1 or email at [email protected].

Two states continue to reject the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

One is Arkansas.

And, as a result, Gov. Gary Herbert’s refusal to comply with the 2003 law cost Utah more than $420,000 in Justice Department grants since 2014.

It’s time for Herbert to explain how his objections to the law make Utah inmates safer — either that, or sign a compliance letter with the Department of Justice.

Herbert wrote to the DOJ in May 2014, outlining his objections to PREA.

While he supports the law’s intent, Herbert said, he refused to implement some requirements “because they are not sound policy and in some circumstances undermine our efforts to eliminate prison rape.”

One example of unsound policy, according to Herbert — a requirement for officers to announce themselves upon entering a unit containing inmates of the opposite gender.

Herbert said that would allow inmates to hide sexual assaults already in progress and put the officers at risk.

So, governor, are you saying it’s better for an officer to stumble upon an assault and try to subdue a desperate attacker?

Are you saying it’s better to let an assault continue until an officer sees it, when the announcement of an officer’s arrival could immediately stop a rape?

Are you saying Utah corrections officers aren’t trained to recognize the signs of sexual assault and inmates could easily conceal evidence of a violent attack?

Herbert also objected to the PREA audit program as costly and time-consuming.

Would those audits help Utah prisons respond more effectively to sexual assaults? Would they help the public assess the performance of the Utah Department of Corrections?

Turner Bitton, executive director of the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault, says they would.

"What advocates understand is that sexual violence is never a punishment for any crime," Bitton told The Salt Lake Tribune.

Would the cost of the audits been offset by the state’s $422,000 in lost Justice Department grants? The DOJ withheld more than $146,000 in corrections, law enforcement, juvenile justice and women’s programs in 2016, The Trib reported. That’s on top of nearly $135,000 in 2015 and more than $141,000 in 2014.

In a state that cannot find room for prisoners in its state mental hospital and fails to adequately fund its public defender system, an extra $422,000 would’ve helped save lives and protect the rights of indigent Utahns.

Herbert’s spokeswoman, Kirsten Rappleye, said in an email to The Trib that the governor still maintains his 2014 position on PREA.

If so, it’s now up to Herbert to demonstrate how his approach does a better job of protecting prisoners than the federal guidelines adopted by 48 other states; it’s up to Herbert to explain how refusing to announce the arrival of officers in a unit with inmates of the opposite gender is worth $422,000 — and counting.

And if he can’t, it’s time for Utah to end its holdout on PREA.

This piece originally appeared in the Standard-Examiner. Click here to read the original article.