Alliance: A Room of Our Own: Survivors Evaluate Services
A Room of Our Own: Survivors Evaluate Services
A Room of Our Own: Survivors Evaluate Services is the first ever citywide report that includes the survivor perspective in both the experiences of services and in the recommendations for service improvement. [[1] Read the full report (pdf)][[2] Go to the press kit]
Background
Survivors of sexual violence can turn to a variety of services after an assault. They may seek medical care, counseling services, report the assault to the police and/or work with prosecutors on a legal case. Often survivors are treated poorly by the very systems set up to help them. Secondary victimization has been defined as the victim-blaming attitudes, behaviors, and practices engaged in by community service providers that result in additional trauma for rape survivors.However, service providers may be unaware that they are revictimizing survivors through their actions. A recent study compared victims' accounts of what happened during service delivery with those of doctors, nurses and police officers. Police officers and doctors significantly underestimated the impact they were having on survivors. Victims reported experiencing more distress about their contacts with the medical and criminal justice systems than service providers thought they were experiencing (Campbell, 2005).
One of the main reasons for embarking on this research was to provide a forum for survivors' voices and use those experiences to start a dialogue about systems change. Having an opportunity to express one's voice is especially important after experiencing one of life's most disempowering violations—sexual violence.
With this report, the Alliance takes the evaluation of service provision to a participatory level by including feedback from the very people who use these services. The Alliance is in a unique position to conduct this research and implement the recommendations posed by survivors. The Alliance is one of the few survivor advocacy organizations with a strong research department. Using the public health model, the Alliance seeks to find out the ‘how, where, by whom and how we can stop it' of sexual violence. The Alliance conducts this research both to inform the prevention of sexual violence but also to ensure that all survivors have access to the best care.
Methodology
This study employed a cross-sectional, pilot-tested survey design to measure survivors' satisfaction with service providers and first responders after a sexual assault. The survey was open to adult (18 years and older) who experienced a sexual assault and sought services for that assault in NYC. The assault for which they sought services must have occurred when they were an adult. [[3] Read more about the methodology] [[4] Read the survey instrument]
[1]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/media/research/bc_1_full.pdf
[2]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/home/nycaasa/stage.nycagainstrape.org/research_bc_1_press.html
[3]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/media/research/bc_1_methodology.pdf
[4]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/media/research/bc_1_survey.pdf
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