Collegiate Sexual Assault Online Resource Guide

The Collegiate Sexual Assault Online Resource Guide is a living collection of reports, best practices, articles, and resources for students, advocates, and college administrators.

Expand the topic categories below for more information.

Advocacy Organizations
  • End Rape on Campus: End Rape on Campus (EROC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating campus sexual assault by providing prevention education, support for survivors, and advocacy for policy reform.
  • It’s On Us: It’s On Us is an organization providing education about what constitutes affirmative consent. They look to empower students and bystanders through a pledge to take action against sexual assault.
  • Know Your IX: Know Your IX is an organization dedicated to empowering students to combat gender-based violence of all kinds on campus via Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments, a landmark federal civil right prohibiting sex discrimination in education.
  • Not Alone: NotAlone was launched in 2014 in connection with the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. This site includes federal publications reporting the results of mandates put in place to strengthen protection against sexual assault on college campuses
Affirmative Consent
Athletics/Greek Life
Bystander Intervention
Economic Impact of Collegiate Sexual Violence
'Enough is Enough' Introduction
Federal Legislation

Clery Act

Title IX

Introduction to Sexual Assault for Colleges

‘Building Partnerships among Law Enforcement Agencies, Colleges and Universities’, White House Report

‘Campus Violence Prevention Resource guides: Creating a Safe Campus Environment Against Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and Stalking’, published by California Coalition Against Sexual Assault

This PDF is a 31-page guide detailing the statistics and importance of addressing campus sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking, along with information for institutions and individuals about how to handle these crimes on campus.

The Culture of Respect CORE Blueprint Program

The Core Blueprint was designed to engage students, parents, faculty, administrators, health professionals, athletes, and other campus stakeholders in implementing practices and policies that shift the culture to one free from sexual violence

‘Creating Change Together: A Guide for Rape Crisis Centers Partnering with Colleges and Universities’, published by Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, August 2014

Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting 2016 Edition, US Department of Education

This 265-page document published by the United States Department of Education covers the guidelines for higher education institutions for collecting and reporting data to comply with federal regulations and laws.

Sample Memorandum of Understanding between a University and a Rape Crisis Program/Advocacy Center

This page provides a template for a document outlining an agreement between a college and an organization to form a partnership handling incidents of sexual violence.

SART

This page on the Office for Victims of Crime website provides information for implementing sexual assault response teams.

https://www.ovcttac.gov/saneguide/multidisciplinary-response-and-the-community/

This Office for Victims of Crime website details the benefits and processes for developing and practicing a multidisciplinary approach when responding to sexual assault in the community.

‘The Science of Preventing Sexual Assaults on College Campuses’, Live Science, July 2016

This article provides statistics on college sexual assault, discusses the effectiveness of certain prevention efforts, and theorizes about the reasons behind the prevalence of campus sexual assault.

‘Sexual Violence on Campus: How too many institutions of higher education are failing to protect students’, Report prepared by the US Senate Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight, July 2014

This 120-page government publication assesses how colleges and universities report, investigate, and adjudicate sexual violence.

SUNY’s Toolkit to Aid Colleges in Building an Online Resource for Students 

This is a list of all sexual assault and rape crisis centers in New York State.

Law Enforcement
  • Trauma Informed Techniques for Campus Police: NYSCASA webinar recording
  • Decreasing the Number of Incorrectly ‘Unfounded” Sexual Assault Reports: Battered Women’s Justice Project webinar recording
  • FETI Training: End Violence Against Women International provides an array of educational webinars on a variety of subjects pertaining to all forms of violence against women.
  • The Forensic Experiential Trauma Interview by Russel W Strand: This 7-page document for the Army Military Police School describes the procedure and benefits of using the Forensic Experiential Trauma Interview (FETI) method when collecting statements from survivors of sexual assault.
  • Justice3D : Justice3D is a leading educator in issues related to investigating and prosecuting sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence cases.
  • Neurobiology of Sexual Assault 2 Part Websites, End Violence Against Women International: This two-part presentation provides a foundation for learning and applying trauma-informed responses while serving survivors of sexual assault.
    • Part 1 explains how fear and trauma can alter brain functioning during sexual assault, resulting in misunderstood behaviors.
    • Part 2 explains how trauma can alter the encoding and storage of memories during a sexual assault.
  • You Have Options Program: The You Have Options Program focuses on helping law enforcement organizations to increase the number of victims who report to law enforcement and thoroughly investigate identified offenders for serial perpetration.
LGBTQ+

The CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey found for LGB people:

  • 44 percent of lesbians and 61 percent of bisexual women experience rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner, compared to 35 percent of straight women
  • 26 percent of gay men and 37 percent of bisexual men experience rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner, compared to 29 percent of straight men
  • 46 percent of bisexual women have been raped, compared to 17 percent of straight women and 13 percent of lesbians
  • 22 percent of bisexual women have been raped by an intimate partner, compared to 9 percent of straight women
  • 40 percent of gay men and 47 percent of bisexual men have experienced sexual violence other than rape, compared to 21 percent of straight men

Within the LGBTQ community, transgender people and bisexual women face the most alarming rates of sexual violence. Among both of these populations, sexual violence begins early, often during childhood.

  • The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that 47% of transgender people are sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime.
  • Among people of color, American Indian (65%), multiracial (59%), Middle Eastern (58%) and Black (53%) respondents of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey were most likely to have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime
  • Nearly half (48 percent) of bisexual women who are rape survivors experienced their first rape between ages 11 and 17.

Resources

Male Survivors
Media/Reporting on Sexual Assault
Prevention Programs
Primary Prevention on Campus
Rape Crisis Programs and Advocacy Centers
Self-Care

‘Self-Care and Social Justice Work’, The Body is Not an Apology, April 2015

This blog article discusses the importance of self care as to avoid burn out.

‘Tips for Survivors on Consuming Media’, RAINN

This article gives tips for survivors on how to deal with triggers when consuming media in print, on television, and online.

A Toolkit for Survivors During COVID-19

Survivors of sexual assault are experiencing the deep impact of this moment in ways we could never have imagined. Those of us in abusive situations and those who are seeking therapy are struggling to get the support they need. Conditions that were already challenging are now exacerbated, and the needs of sexual assault survivors are being left out of the national dialogue in more ways than one. Click here to access A Toolkit for Survivors During COVID-19, created by the ‘me too.’ Movement.

Who Do I Tell? How Do I Tell? Toolkit

For individuals who have experienced or know someone who has experienced sexual assault, this toolkit provides question prompts and tips for deciding who to disclose to, and how. Click here to access the toolkit, created by the ‘me too.’ Movement.

Coping with Triggers

A “trigger” is a trauma reminder. It can be a feeling, a smell, a place, a topic, anything that engages our nervous system and prompts a survival response. It is a surprise emotion, a memory that our body holds, one that may feel like it comes out of nowhere. Click here to access the Coping with Triggers toolkit, created by the ‘me too.’ Movement.

Healing Justice Practice Spaces Toolkit

This “how-to” guide from Autumn Brown & Maryse Mitchell-Brody explains how to create an intentional healing justice practice space. The authors offer that a Healing Justice Practice Space (HJPS) is an all-gender, all-bodied, inclusive and accessible space for practicing and receiving healing that is built in partnership with social justice movement work and sites of political action. These spaces typically offer a wide variety of health and healing services, including (but not limited to) first aid, counseling and crisis support, mediation services, massage therapy, acupuncture, energy work, herbal therapy, divination, art therapy, nutritional counseling, and yoga. This thoughtful guide walks through the what, the who, and the how so that you might create your own HJPS within your community. Click here to access the toolkit, created by the ‘me too.’ Movement.

Books to Support Healing from Sexual Violence

Healing Honestly recently put together a list of books to support survivors’ healing from sexual violence. NYSCASA has sent some of these books to member rape crisis programs, including Love WITH Accountability: Digging Up the Roots of Child Sexual Abuse, Queering Sexual Violence: Radical Voices from Within the Anti-Violence Movement, and Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling GoodCheck out the full book list here.

Grounding and Self-Soothing Techniques

There are a great number of tools and resources to assist survivors with grounding and self-soothing as they move through their healing journey. Here are some resources recommended by NYSCASA staff:

Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs)
Study Abroad Information

International toll free crisis hot line: 866-USWOMEN

A 24/7 live chat on their website: www.866uswomen.org

There is also a crisis email: [email protected]

Students/Activism
Training and Technical Assistance
THE NEW YORK STATE TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER

The New York State Training and Technical Assistance Center provides training and technical assistance for rape crisis and sexual violence programs who work with victims and survivors of sexual violence in New York State, with a focus on providing support on “Enough is Enough” programming. The Center is a joint partnership between the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NYSCASA) and the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault (the Alliance) to support the NYS Department of Health Rape Crisis and Enough is Enough Programs.

Resources from the Training and Technical Assistance Center:

ENGAGING BOYS AND MEN: COACHING BOYS INTO MEN

Athletic coaches play an extremely influential and unique role in the lives of young men, often serving as a parent or mentor to the boys they coach. Because of these special relationships, coaches are uniquely poised to positively influence how young men think and behave both on, and off, the field. FUTURES WITHOUT VIOLENCE’s Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM) program facilitates these connections by providing high school athletic coaches with the resources they need to promote respectful behavior among their players and help prevent relationship abuse, harassment, and sexual assault. For more than a decade, the program has been implemented in communities across the U.S. and around the world. From Sacramento and Dallas, to India and South Africa, the program’s messages have proven universal. The CBIM curriculum consists of a series of coach-to-athlete trainings that illustrate ways to model respect and promote healthy relationships.

Resources for advocates:

IT’S ON US VIRTUAL SERIES: ENGAGING MEN IN THE MOVEMENT TO COMBAT SEXUAL ASSAULT

The goals of this virtual series are to:

  • Discuss the role of student athletes in combatting sexual assault and supporting survivors
  • Learn ways to engage boys and young men in sexual assault prevention from a young age
  • Discuss the stigmas surrounding male survivors and survivors of color
  • Learn ways to tackle toxic masculinity and the role it plays in supporting survivors

Webinar recordings:

SAMPLE DOCUMENTS

 Calendar

View the latest events, upcoming webinars, and in-person training opportunities.

 Training

Review previously recorded training on sexual assault intervention and prevention, including our 40-hour advocate training. 

 Resources

Materials to support Rape Crisis & Sexual Violence Programs.