On the case: VPD enlists UHV researcher to look into rise of reported sexual assaults | Premium

For many who survive sexual assault, it’s one of the worst days of their lives.

But with cultural changes in how victims are treated, more people are coming forward to share their story, and authorities are responding.

In the last year, Victoria has seen a dramatic 63.93% increase in reported sexual assaults. In response to that rise, Victoria Police Chief Roberto Arredondo Jr. is working with Ashley Fansher, University of Houston-Victoria criminal justice associate professor, to research and understand the rise in sexual assault cases.

The aim of the research is to understand how it affects the community, craft a grassroots community information campaign and see where the department could be better, Arredondo said.

That work is getting a positive response from a nurse who examines sexual assault patients

“He’s an absolute rock star,” said Mara Beth Israel-Uebe, sexual assault nurse examiner coordinator for DeTar Hospital.

Israel-Uebe is familiar with the effects of being sexually assaulted. She and her mother are victims of sexual assault, she said.

Those who survive sexual assault are often in shock after it happens, trying to process it much like a person does after being shaken in a car accident, but the effects last much longer, Israel-Uebe said.

After the shock subsides, they can experience denial, shame and self-blame over the incident, mostly as a result of how society has historically blamed both male and female victims, she said.

“I usually tell people toward the end of their exams that this does not have to define you or define your life. You can take this experience and heal from it,” Israel-Uebe said. “First, you’re a victim. Then it’s something you survived. Then it becomes something that happened to you, and … you can turn it into your superpower to help other people. And then, I look at them and smile and tell them about myself.”

It’s very important for survivors to hear there are other people who have experienced sexual assault and even though it takes time and work to heal, they can come out the other side and help others, she said.

Early results from research into the rise of reported sexual assaults have shown that many of the cases are family-related assaults, not strangers, and that many of the assaults happened in prior years, not just 2021 or 2020, Fansher said.

About 80% of sexual assault cases are committed by someone the victim knew, according to the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network.

Possible factors that have contributed to the rise in reporting include the #Metoo movement that has made it more culturally accepting to come forward than in the past and people coming out of lockdown from the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

This isn’t so much an increase in sexual assaults in Victoria, but more so that people are reporting it more, Arredondo said.

An additional factor is efforts from the Texas Legislature to better address sexual assault, including mandating formation of sexual assault response teams in communities during the 87th Texas Legislature in 2021, Israel-Uebe said.

A response team is a formalized response to a sexual assault that allows multidisciplinary professionals to coordinate and develop interagency responses to address sexual assault by providing wrap-around support and communication.

“Texas is leading the way for the country on sexual assault,” Israel-Uebe said.

The convergence of all these possible factors has created an environment where both men and women feel comfortable coming forward to report. They are feeling they are less likely to be judged and that authorities are capable of providing the resources they need, she said.

This tracks as Mid-Coast Family Services, which has advocate services for sexual assault survivors that aren’t required to report a sex assault, saw 96 sexual assault survivors in 2021, not counting dual reporting cases that included both sexual assault and domestic violence, said Beth Svetlik, Mid-Coast Family Services director of nonresidential and sexual assault services.

Mid-Coast hasn’t seen a notable increase in sexual assault cases, so the increased numbers for the police department are reflecting that more people are more comfortable reporting to authorities what happened to them, Svetlik said.

When Arredondo worked for the Dallas Police Department, it would often turn to university researchers to understand issues to improve how the department addresses them, he said.

“If we can take our data, have a researcher look at it, tell me what’s happening, why it’s happening, where it’s happening, I can create a grassroots campaign to help prevent people from being victims of sexual assault,” Arredondo said.

Fansher, who has previously helped the Kansas City Police Department with similar research, will conduct research at the police station in addition to her duties as a professor for six months and then make initial recommendations. In total, she will spend two years researching before making more-detailed final recommendations.

With most of the incidents being family related, it will be a difficult problem to solve. But with the community campaign and possibly update police procedures, it will hopefully address it, Arredondo said.

After the sexual assault research is completed, Arredondo wants to extend the research to aggravated assault in hope of looking at ways to reduce gun crimes in the area, he said.

“Yes, that (sexual assault) stat is there and I got to answer to that, but I’m very confident in the fact that our community supports us and they believe in us and they trust us,” Arredondo said. “They know that we take it very seriously and that even if they come to us at a later date that we are going to do what we need to do to bring those persons to justice.”

 Israel-Uebe said if the infrastructure and culture that are in place today existed in 1964 when her mother was sexually assaulted, there would have been dramatically different results in the positive direction.

“We already see how it’s paying off now as sexual assault survivors are seeing much better outcomes,” she said.