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The study examined adolescent sexual assault survivors' help-seeking experiences with the legal and medical systems in two Midwestern communities that have different models of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE)/Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) interventions.

In Dataset 1 (Qualitative Victim Interviews), investigators conducted qualitative interviews with N=20 adolescent sexual assault victims 14-17 years old. From these interviews, investigators identified three distinct patterns of survivors' post-assault disclosures and their pathways to seeking help from SANE programs and the criminal justice system: voluntary (survivors' contact with the legal and medical system was by their choice), involuntary (system contact was not by choice), and situational (circumstances of the assault itself prompted involuntary disclosure). Interviews included responses that described the assault, their experience with both the SANE/SART programs and the criminal justice system, and victim and offender demographic information.

In Dataset 2 (SANE Programs Quantitative Data), investigators obtained SANE program records, police and prosecutor records, and crime lab findings for a sample of N=395 (ages 13-17) adolescent sexual assault victims who sought services from the local SANE programs in two different counties. The data collected examined victim's progress through the criminal justice system. Factors that could potentially affect case progression were also examined; age of victim, relationship to offender, assault characteristics, number of assaults on victim, and evidence collected. Differences between the two different counties' programs were also examined for their effect on the case progression.

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

To address the under-reporting and under-prosecution of adult sexual assaults, some communities in the United States implemented the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program whereby specially trained nurses provide comprehensive psychological, medical, and forensic services for sexual assault to improve post-assault care for victims and the criminal justice system response. The SANE Practitioner Toolkit was created to teach SANE program staff how to evaluate whether prosecution rates increased in their communities after the implantation of their SAME program.

Six SANE programs were selected and provided with comprehensive technical assistance to help them work through the steps in the Toolkit in order to evaluate whether the program was having a beneficial impact on prosecution rates. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the SANE program to increase prosecution rates of sexual assaults through the SANE Practitioner Evaluation Toolkit, and the technical assistance process and resources provided to the sites improved their evaluative abilities.

The goal of this research project was to enhance the understanding of Asian battered women's experiences in seeking help from the criminal justice system (CJS) and other (non-CJS) programs and develop recommendations for system responses to intimate partner violence (IPV) in Asian communities. The project focused on selected Asian ethnic groups -- Filipina, Indian and Pakistani and addressed the following research questions:

• When do Asian battered women experience various types of IPV over their life course?
• When do Asian battered women come into contact with CJS and non-CJS agencies?
• What kinds of responses do Asian battered women receive from CJS and non-CJS agencies?
• What responses do Asian battered women perceive as helpful?
• What are the barriers to contacting CJS agencies?
• What suggestions do Asian battered women have for improving CJS responses to IPV in Asian communities?

Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) are interventions that were created to coordinate efforts of the legal, medical, mental health systems, and rape crisis centers, in order to improve victims' help seeking experiences and legal outcomes. This study examined the relationship between SART structure and effectiveness by conducting a national scale study of SARTs and a smaller detailed network analysis of four SARTs.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether adult sexual assault cases in a Midwestern community were more likely to be investigated and prosecuted after the implementation of a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program, and to identify the 'critical ingredients' that contributed to that increase.

Part 1 (Study 1: Case Records Quantitative Data) used a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent comparison group cohort design to compare criminal justice systems outcomes for adult sexual assault cases treated in county hospitals five years prior to the implementation of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program (January 1994 to August 1999) (the comparison group, n=156) to cases treated in the focal SANE program during its first seven years of operation (September 1999 to December 2005) (the intervention group, n=137). Variables include focus on case outcome, law enforcement agency that handled the case, DNA findings, and county-level factors, including prosecutor elections and the emergence of the focal SANE program.

Part 2 (Study 2: Case Characteristics Quantitative Data) used the adult sexual assault cases from the Study 1 intervention group (post-SANE) (n=137) to examine whether victim characteristics, assault characteristics, and the presence and type of medical forensic evidence predicted case progression outcomes.

Part 3 (Study 3: Police and Prosecutors Interview Qualitative Data) used in-depth interviews in April and May of 2007 with law enforcement supervisors (n=9) and prosecutors (n=6) in the focal county responsible for the prosecution of adult sexual assault crimes to explore if and how the SANEs affect the way in which police and prosecutors approach such cases. The interviews focused on four main topics: (1) whether they perceived a change in investigations and prosecution of adult sexual assault cases in post-SANE, (2) their assessment of the quality and utility of the forensic evidence provided by SANEs, (3) their perceptions regarding whether inter-agency training has improved the quality of police investigations and reports post-SANE, and (4) their perceptions regarding if and how the SANE program increased communication and collaboration among legal and medical personnel, and if such changes have influenced law enforcement investigational practices or prosecutor charging decisions.

Part 4 (Study 4: Police Reports Quantitative Data) examined police reports written before and after the implementation of the SANE program to determine whether there had been substantive changes in ways sexual assaults cases were investigated since the emergence of the SANE program. Variables include whether the police had referred the case to the prosecutor, indicators of SANE involvement, and indicators of law enforcement effort.

Part 5 (Study 5: Survivor Interview Qualitative Data) focused on understanding how victims characterized the care they received at the focal SANE program as well as their expriences with the criminal justices system. Using prospective sampling and community-based retrospective purposive sampling, twenty adult sexual assault vicitims were identified and interviewed between January 2006 and May 2007. Interviews covered four topics: (1) the rape itself and initial disclosures, (2) victims' experiences with SANE program staff including nurses and victim support advocates, (3) the specific role forensic evidence played in victims' decisions to participate in prosecution, and (4) victims' experiences with law enforcement, prosecutors, and judicial proceedings, and if/how the forensic nurses and advocates influenced those interactions.

Part 6 (Study 6: Forensic Nurse Interview Qualitative Data) examined forensic nurses' perspectives on how the SANE program could affect survivor participation with prosecution indirectly and how the interactions between SANEs and law enforcement could be contributing to increased investigational effort. Between July and August of 2008, six Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) were interviewed. The interviews explored three topics: (1) the nurses' philosophy on victim reporting and participating in prosecution, (2) their perceptions regarding how patient care may or may not affect victim participation in the criminal justice system, and (3) their perception of how the SANE programs influence the work of law enforcement investigational practices.The interviews explored three topics: (1) the nurses' philosophy on victim reporting and participating in prosecution, (2) their perceptions regarding how patient care may or may not affect victim participation in the criminal justice system, and (3) their perception of how the SANE programs influence the work of law enforcement investigational practices.