Bringing the Global to the Local: Using Participatory Research to Address Sexual Violence with Immigrant Communities in NYC

This report reveals, in their own voices, the experiences New York City immigrant women have with sexual violence and their thoughts on ending this victimization. Many of the women who participated in this pilot study talked about the situations they faced and the barriers they experienced in seeking help for sexual violence. Systematic changes are impossible without active community involvement. Our research seeks innovative partnerships with New York City communities, both to prevent violence before it happens and to intervene when it occurs. This report highlights the scope of sexual violence as experienced by immigrant women, the barriers that immigrant women face when seeking help, and the issues involved in preventing such violence in their communities

How SAFE is New York City? Sexual Assault Services in Emergency Departments

New York City has more emergency departments (ED) than any other city in the United States. Its large population and concentration of many public and private EDs present unique challenges for the provision of the best care for all sexual assault survivors. This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the acute sexual assault services available through NYC emergency departments. Chapter 1 defines the evidence base for SAFE programs and describes SAFE program components. Chapter 2 presents key findings regarding the medical care of sexual assault patients. Chapter 3 details the research findings related to forensic evidence collection and chain of evidence maintenance. Chapter 4 examines findings around advocacy, information-giving and follow-up care for sexual assault survivors. Chapter 5 explores the data around quality assurance and discusses ways to improve the acute care response. Chapter 6 concludes the report with implications of the findings for advocacy and future research. This is the second mapping of the acute sexual assault services available in NYC. The first was conducted by the Rape Treatment Consortium in partnership with the Barnard/Columbia Center for Urban Policy in 1996. The Consortium interviewed via phone and through mail surveys social workers and other hospital staff at 45 hospitals. They asked questions on eight areas: forensically trained personnel, site of exam, advocates, training, follow-up care, administration, financial support and outreach and education. This effort by the Consortium served as formative research for this comprehensive study

A Room of Our Own: Sexual Assault Survivors Evaluate Services

The Alliance's research seeks to provide baseline evidence regarding the treatment of sexual assault survivors in NYC with one goal in mind: to improve care. The companion research report "How SAFE is NYC?: Sexual Assault Services in Emergency Departments" documents what is and is not being done for survivors in the acute care setting. Together these two reports highlight the tremendous strides that NYC has made to improve services and the work that still needs to be done to ensure that all survivors, no matter what borough, no matter what age, no matter what sexual orientation or physical ability, have access to the best services available

Addressing violence against children:A systematic review on interventions to accelerate the achievement of the UN sustainable development goal in Europe and Africa

Background: Violence against children (VAC) is a global public health issue. In the context of limited resources, the United Nations Development Programme has coined the concept of a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) accelerator for preventing and responding to VAC. An ‘accelerator’ is a provision that simultaneously leads to progress across multiple SDGs targets and goals. Objectives: This systematic review synthesizes the literature on violence prevention evaluation studies using robust methods according to the SDG accelerator framework for children aged 0–18 in Western Europe and Central and West Africa. It also provides a lens for analyzing research inequities between the global North and South, examining the challenges and differences undermining knowledge production across regions, particularly in research output. Method: We systematically searched 30 electronic databases and grey literature in English and French. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Results: Nine evaluation studies related to four SDG goals and ten targets were included in the analysis. As a result, no intervention was identified as an accelerator for children in West and Central Africa. In contrast, three promising interventions were identified as accelerators in Western Europe. Two school-based interventions reduce bullying, depression, and substance abuse and improve psychological well-being; and one home-based intervention reduces child abuse, the severity of neglect, and mental health problems and improves school attendance. Moreover, this review also uncovered a lack of research from the Global South that points to serious disadvantages for authors and institutions and global violence prevention efforts, as it hinders the flow of knowledge and innovative practices. Conclusions: The results highlight the need for future VAC prevention trials to integrate the SDG accelerators concept further. Additionally, more effort should be made to support scholars in the global South to address knowledge inequities and to enhance understanding of how accelerators work in different field settings and conditions. This effort will ensure that interventions accelerate SDG goals and impact the world's most vulnerable children.</p

Partners and Peers: Sexual and Dating Violence Among NYC Youth

Partners and Peers found that youth tell other youth -- if they tell anyone at all -- about their experiences. This makes it essential that information is available to teens in a format they can utilize. The Teen Health Map, with a subway map on one side and youth-friendly referral guide to health and sexual violence resources on the other, was developed by the Alliance to support those who participated in the study. This has become an important resource on its own as a confidential source of information that youth can share with each other. In its second printing, the map has been purchased by the NYC Department of Education and Department of Youth and Community Development for those they serve. The Teen Health Map was tested extensively and developed to young people's specifications for use and confidentiality