05 Nov Webinar: Tools for Addressing Gender Bias in Sexual Assault Response
From 1:00 PM until 1:30 PM
Presented by End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI)
EVAWI offers a number of resources designed to explore the phenomenon of gender bias, both explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious), and the resulting stereotypes and attitudes that can influence the professional response to, and investigation of, sexual assault. In this brief 30-minute webinar, we will offer a tour of these resources to help identify the presence of gender bias, mitigate its influence, and address key questions about how bias can disadvantage (or advantage) the victim and/or suspect.
Objectives
As a result of this webinar, participants will be better able to:
- Identify, locate, and access EVAWI resources on gender bias.
- Prepare to explain gender bias and respond effectively to questions.
- Address the persistent challenge of gender bias in sexual assault investigations.
Presenter
Kimberly Lonsway, PhD
Director of Research, EVAWI, San Luis Obispo, CA
Dr. Kim Lonsway is a Founding Board Member and current Research Director for EVAWI, America's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving criminal justice responses to sexual assault. Before EVAWI, Dr. Lonsway served as the Director of Research for the National Center for Women & Policing and the Director of Research and Training for Penny Harrington & Associates. She also taught psychology at California Polytechnic State University.
Dr. Lonsway earned her PhD in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and then served for two years as a post-doctoral research fellow at the interdisciplinary American Bar Foundation in Chicago, Illinois. Her research has always focused on sexual violence and the criminal justice and community response system, and she volunteered for over 15 years as a victim advocate for rape crisis centers in two different communities. In 2012, she was awarded the first-ever Volunteer of the Decade Award from the Sexual Assault Recovery and Prevention (SARP) Center in San Luis Obispo, CA - an award specifically created to recognize Lonsway's years of service and dedication to this local rape crisis center.
Dr. Lonsway co-authored a book with Chief Penny Harrington entitled: Investigating Sexual Harassment in Law Enforcement and Nontraditional Fields for Women (Prentice Hall). She has also written over 60 published articles, book chapters, technical reports, government reports, and commissioned documents - in addition to numerous training modules, bulletins, and other resources. She served for five years as Co-Editor of the Sexual Assault Report, a bimonthly publication of the Civic Research Institute.
Over her career, Dr. Lonsway has trained thousands of professionals across the country and around the world, testified as an expert witness in both criminal and civil court cases, and responded to countless inquiries from survivors, practitioners, researchers, educators, policymakers, and the media on topics associated with sexual assault victimization and the criminal justice and community response system.
This project is supported by Grant No. 2016-TA-AX-K010 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.