Public Intersection Project

The Public Intersection Project team is uniquely positioned to help communities work across organizational boundaries to address shared problems. Following are resources related to community response to sexual assault and domestic violence.

Organization of Sexual Assault Services 

In this project, sexual assault/domestic violence service providers were surveyed to assess how or whether organizational structure affects the provision or reporting of sexual assault services in both single program and combined sexual and domestic violence programs. Download a copy of the full report here.  

This 2005–2006 project was funded by the NC Governor’s Crime Commission.

Community Capacity-Building for Sexual and Domestic Violence Programs

This project provided opportunities for community stakeholders to learn about and discuss ways to build the overall organizational capacity and community support of local sexual and domestic violence programs. A description of the project is available in the article, Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence: The Community’s Role in Weaving a Safety Net.”

During this project, all 100 counties were invited to participate in one of seven workshops held across NC during January–April, 2006. 

• The workshops were based on the article, “Building Community Capacity to Meet Public Needs”

• A guided imagry exercise, “A Bird’s Eye View of Your Community’s Response to Sexual and Domestic Violence” was used to encourage the audience to consider the ‘big picture’ of local service provision.

The workshop handouts below are written with a specific sexual volence/domestic violence focus; however, they could easily be adapted for any other type of broad community problem-solving effort:

• Community Asset Inventory
• Assessing Your Community Capacity
• Planning Resource Guide
• The Next Steps Worksheet

Blind Reporting of Sexual Violence

The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin has published two articles written for law enforcement agencies interested in establishing blind reporting systems for sexual assault crimes.

“Options for Reporting Sexual Violence: Developments Over the Past Decade,”  FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, by Sabrina Garcia and Margaret Henderson, May, 2010. 

“Blind Reporting of Sexual Violence,” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, by Sabrina Garcia and Margaret Henderson, June 1999, pp. 12-16. 

Consensus Practices in the Provision of Services to Survivors of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

A critical element of providing effective community-based domestic violence and sexual assault services is sound knowledge regarding which services work well to improve the lives of those who are surviving and have survived these forms of violence. The 2007 report, “Consensus Practices in the Provision of Services to Survivors of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault: A Reference for North Carolina Service Providers,” is available online.

Funded by the NC Governor’s Crime Commission, this research was conducted by Dr. Rebecca J. Macy of the School of Social Work at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her other publications related to Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence are available online.

Additional Resources

Visit the School of Government online bookstore for publications related to sexual assault, including:

• "Sexual Assault Cases Based on Conduct Before 2001," by Jeff Welty, Administration of Justice Bulletin, July 2009
• "Special Evidentiary Issues in Sexual Assault Cases: The Rape Shield Law and Evidence of Prior Sexual Misconduct by the Defendant, by Jeff Welty, Administration of Justice Bulletin, August 2009

Graduate Students in the UNC Masters of Public Administration Program have also researched topics related to sexual assault and domestic violence.  Copies of their Capstone Papers are provided in the following links:

• Local Governments and Sex Trafficking:  Lessons Learned about how to Identify and Prepare for Cases of Sex Trafficking, by Steven Buter, Spring 2008
• What’s “Fair” in Funding Criteria?:  Allocating Federal Funds for Basic Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services, by Erin Aldrich Miller, Spring 2010