Goals

The conferences will promote an integrated community response to sexual violence by selecting eight teams from communities as participants and awarding them scholarships to attend a three-day conference in either the United States or Canada. The teams will be selected from communities where representatives from the police, prosecution and sexual assault services demonstrate, through their application, that they are prepared to work together to implement the social action program designed by NAPASA and SATI. The winning team applicants will:
 

	receive training at a national conference by Joanne Archambault and SATI for developing an Integrated Community Sexual Assault Response and by Edward Renner and NAPASA in the strategy and methods for challenging the legal system to more effectively prosecute sexual assaults.
	become international partners in a US/Canada effort to set new national standards for effectively prosecuting sex offenders, particularly ones whose crimes do not fit the stereotype of rape. The activities of the participant communities will be coordinated through a dedicated web site.
	receive follow-up support through on-site and on-line consultations, evaluation, and through joint publications and presentations to academic, professional and applied journals and conferences.

Long-term Conference Outcomes
 
There is no "theory" to be tested in the usual research sense, and the methodology is actually a strategy - the strategy required to challenge the status quo. In the year following the conference, we expect to see the following improvements:
 

	Increased numbers of typical victims (non-stranger, lack of weapons and injury, otherwise reputable offender) reporting their assaults.
	Thorough and strategic police investigations demonstrating knowledge about the dynamics of sexual assault.
	Skilled collection of evidence and victim support in typical cases where consent is the probable defense.
	Strategic planning to overcome obstacles by stakeholders.
	Advanced preparation for anticipating "triggers" and presenting legal arguments.
	Increased objections and motions by the prosecution.
	Appeals in selected cases where objections are not sustained.

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