TRENTON
- Attorney General Peter C. Harvey announced
today that more than 100 county Sexual
Assault Response Team Advisory Board members
from throughout New Jersey have completed
a mandatory training session regarding
the newly revised “Standards for
Providing Services to Victims of Sexual
Assault.”
The New Jersey Sexual Assault Response
Team (SART) Program is a “first
in the nation” rape and sexual assault
response and is comprised of Sexual Assault
Nurse Examiners (SANE), rape care advocates,
and law enforcement officers who provide
compassionate, coordinated services to
victims of sexual assault. The new standards
were created based on recommendations
made by the Attorney General’s SART/SANE
Coordinating Council, which include the
Division
of Criminal Justice, the County Prosecutors
Association, the New Jersey Sex Crimes
Officers Association, Sexual Assault Nurse
Examiners, New Jersey Board of Nursing,
New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault,
and the New Jersey Division of Women.
“Today, New Jersey takes a huge
step forward by training SART team members
and hospitals on how best to assist victims
of sexual assault,” Attorney General
Harvey said. “The new set of standards
is victim-oriented which employs a ‘best
practice’ and new level of sensitivity
to victims of sexual assault.”
Joining the Attorney General to announce
the statewide SART/SANE Program were Vaughn
L. McKoy, Director, Division of Criminal
Justice; Stephen R. Briggs, Provost, The
College of New Jersey (TCNJ); Deborah
Shepherd, Executive Director, New Jersey
Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NJCASA);
Lt. Honey Spirito, New Jersey Sex Crimes
Officers’ Association; and Eileen
Caraker, Gloucester County SART/SANE Coordinator.
The Attorney General also acknowledged
the ongoing partnership that the SART/SANE
program has with The College of New Jersey
(TCNJ). TCNJ has provided significant
resources to the statewide SANE program.
“The
sexual assault task force and the Office
of Anti-Violence Initiatives were created
to pro-actively address the issue of sexual
assault among college students,”
Provost Briggs said. “Together these
groups raise awareness on campus and create
an environment conducive to reporting
these crimes.”
According to Director McKoy, the SANE/SART
concept of aiding victims of sexual assault
includes a “team” approach,
ensuring that every victim of sexual assault
has access to the best possible care and
services available from health care, law
enforcement and rape care advocacy agencies
throughout the state. Since its inception
in 1996, the state-wide SART/SANE program
has received more than $3 million in funding
from the Division of Criminal Justice
through the Office of Victim-Witness Advocacy.
"The
goal of the SART is twofold - to provide
medical care and counseling to the victim
while allowing law enforcement to obtain
necessary evidence to investigate, arrest
and prosecute the offender,” said
Director McKoy. “The new standards
help to cement the idea that the SART/SANE
Program is a victim-centered service.
The program is a safe way for women to
come forward, without feeling that they
will be victimized a second or third time
by the very system that is endeavoring
to help."
Today, there are 175 SANE’s (Sexual
Assault Nurse Examiners) and 55 New Jersey
hospitals working as part of the statewide
program. From Oct 1, 2002 to Sept. 30,
2003, SART/SANE reported 980 activations
of the SART team. The following year,
there were 1,150 activations. SART/SANE
officials site these statistics as a good
indication that residents of New Jersey
are becoming aware of the SART/SANE program.
In 2004, the 21 county rape care programs
served, 3,539 new victims, 1,215 new significant
others/family members and 13,640 hotline
calls.
Other press conference attendees included
Vicki Lunde Rodriguez, Division on Women
Rape Care Program; Robert Laurino, County
Prosecutors’ Association; Susan
Bakewell-Sachs, Dean of TCNJ’s School
of Nursing; Jackie Deitch-Stackhouse,
Office of Anti-Violence Initiatives, TCNJ;
James Lopez, student member, Sexual Assault
Task Force; Assistant Attorney General
Jessica Oppenheim; Deputy Attorney General
Linda Rinaldi; Connie Schwedes, Program
Development Specialist, and representatives
from the Division of Criminal Justice.
For more information on becoming a SANE,
please call 609-984-7346.
For information on becoming a Rape Care
Advocate, please call 609-631-4450
or visit the Division of Criminal Justice
Web site at www.njdcj.org.
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