Medical care providers and other professionals who provide care and support to sexual assault victims will have access to a free training series in 2024 through a partnership of Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment and Avera Health’s eSANE Project.

“Through this training series, CPCM is honored to increase our training capacity for the statewide Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Learning Collaborative,” said Chrissie Young, CPCM Director. “This series is going to be a valuable asset for any professional tasked with sexual assault response and victim care.”

The series will be held exclusively online, with varying dates and times. The series will include national and local experts on sexual assault response and medical care, featuring topics ranging from intergenerational trauma, medical evidence in child sexual abuse, male victims, gender and race-based violence, traumatic brain injury, and more.

“Avera’s eSANE project’s goal is to improve the quality of healthcare for sexual assault victims in our rural state,” said Jennifer Canton, Avera SANE Supervisor. “We are thrilled to be able to offer this caliber of training and access to this level of expertise in our state.”

A first of its kind training for South Dakota will be a two-day session from Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, “Strangulation: The Last Warning Shot.” The series also covers the diversity of victims of violence, featuring topics specific to Native Americans, Asian American Pacific Islanders, immigrants/refugees, multi-lingual, and victims who have disabilities.

The training series includes:

• May 7: The Impact of Historical and Intergenerational Trauma on the Two-Spirit and Native LGBTQ Community presented by Lenny Hayes, Tate Topa Consulting
• June 18: Normal is Normal: Effective Use of Medical Evidence in the Prosecution of Child Sexual Abuse Cases presented by Kathleen Nolan, Senior Attorney with Zero Abuse Project
• June 18: Where the Boys Are: Investigating and Prosecuting Cases of CSA When the Victim is Male presented by Victor Vieth, Chief Program Officer of Education & Research with Zero Abuse Project
• June 28: History of the Movement to End Gender and Race-Based Violence: Moving Beyond Crisis to Healing presented by Christina Love, Indigenous Storyteller, Survivor, Multi-Level Advocate
• July 12: Understanding the Nexus of Violence and the Science of Addiction presented by Christina Love, Indigenous Storyteller, Survivor, Multi-Level Advocate
• July 17: Domestic Abuse & Civil Legal Considerations presented by Tracey Decker, JD & Krista Heeren-Graber, BSW, MS, LBSW, SD Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault
• July 24: Victims’ Rights 101 for Medical Personnel presented by Amy Liu and Rebecca Khalil, National Crime Victim Law Institute
• July 25: The Impact of Clients with Different Immigration Statuses Access to Services Available presented by Taneeza Islam, SD Voices for Peace
• July 31: Victims of Violence with Disabilities presented by Aimee Deliramich, Ph.D. and Nikki Eining, MSW, CSW-PIP, QMHP from USD Center for Disabilities
• August 7: Protecting Survivors’ Privacy and Other Rights in Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration presented by Amy Liu and Rebecca Khalil, National Crime Victim Law Institute
• August 14-15: Strangulation: The Last Warning Shot presented by Gael Strack and Joe Bianco, Alliance for HOPE International
• August 27: Why a Victim’s Immigration Status Matters: Getting Onto a Path to a Lawful Work Permit and US Citizenship presented by Taneeza Islam, SD Voices for Peace
• August 27: Cultural Awareness – Relating to Norms by Laura Smith-Hill and Valeria Wicker, LSS
• August 28: Hidden in Plain Sight – Strangulation, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Gender-Based Violence presented by Rachel Ramirez, The Center on Partner-Inflicted Brain Injury at the Ohio Domestic Violence Network
• September 11: Working with Interpreters by Laura Smith-Hill and Valeria Wicker, LSS
• September 17: An Update on HIV Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) for Nurse Examiners presented by Dr. Oni Blackstock, Health Justice
• September 18: Culturally Responsive Services for AAPI Survivors of Violence presented by Sarah Khan, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence
• September 24: With Care and Dignity – Medical Sexual Assault Forensic Exams for Incarcerated Survivors presented by Cynthia Totten, Deputy Executive Director, Just Detention International and Angelita Olowu, Forensic Nursing Director, International Association of Forensic Nurses
• September 25: Culturally Competent Outreach and Engagement by Laura Smith-Hill and Valeria Wicker, LSS
• September 26: Trauma Informed Care for Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth presented by Dr. Dana Kaplan, Department of Pediatrics at Staten Island University Hospital and Dr. Natasha Jouk, Department of Pediatrics at Maimonides Medical Center/Infants and Children’s Hospital of Brooklyn

Additional training dates and topics will continue to be added to the series. Registration is required for each individual session. See the full training calendar at https://sdcpcm.com/news/calendar/. This training series is hosted by CPCM under Grant No. 2019-MU-GX-K014, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations in this document are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.