About the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NYSCASA)
Formed in 1987 by rape crisis advocates as a mutual support group, the mission and purpose of the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault rapidly evolved from basic networking. The Coalition grew to include technical assistance, resource development and policy advocacy for the more than 100 Rape Crisis programs, sister agencies and collaborators statewide that work with survivors of sexual violence and their families.
Today, NYSCASA works with local, regional state and national organizations all of whom are dedicated to ending sexual violence.
About the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault
Founded in 2001 by a coalition of New York City Rape Crisis Programs as a leadership organization to address gaps in services and prevention, and to advocate for citywide change, the mission of the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault is to prevent sexual violence and reduce the harm it causes through education, research, and advocacy.
Since then the Alliance has grown to expand into a hub for survivors and activists. The Alliance uses innovative strategies in primary prevention and works with varieties of stakeholders to educate the public about sexual violence; including survivors, Rape Crisis Programs, colleges and universities, youth and community organizations, and non-traditional partners such as nightlife establishments and taxi cab companies. Through prevention education, working directly with survivors, and advocating for creative and effective policy change, the Alliance envisions cities free from sexual violence.
About Our Collaboration
The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault (the Alliance) and the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NYSCASA) have worked as partners on multiple projects for many years. Both programs previously served as New York State’s two Centers of Excellence in Sexual Assault Prevention, providing technical assistance (TA), training, resources and expertise to 80 Rape Crisis and Sexual Violence Prevention programs statewide together. We have five years of experience collaborating together to identify emerging and ongoing prevention and intervention issues, determine the best ways to address the needs (i.e., timing, delivery method, etc.), and prepare a comprehensive training plan. Under this partnership, the Alliance and NYSCASA have developed a joint TA methodology and effective strategy with which to assess on-the-ground needs of our partner programs and identify how to most effectively meet them. Together, the Alliance and NYSCASA are able to collaboratively work both state-wide, and on a regional and individual level with partner programs to provide targeted resources and expertise.
The purpose of the collaboration between the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the New York City Alliance Against Sexual assault is to:
- Provide training to community-based Rape Crisis Programs and programs that serve victims of sexual assault under a grant from the Department of Health,
- Develop training and educational resources designed to address the needs of programs,
- Deliver trainings that provide effective skills-building activities,
- Provide technical assistance to programs.