ST PAUL, Minn. — Reporting sexual assault crimes is hard and often re-traumatizing.
That can make holding offenders accountable even harder, but there's a new effort in the east metro to make sure sexual assault survivors get the help they need.
In a partnership between Ramsey County Public Health's SOS Sexual Violence Survivors Services and the St. Paul Police Department, the On My Terms program was created and launched last summer.
"Often times, I hear people say I don't know how you do what you do," said Megan Rae, the legal services coordinator at SOS. "I show up as an expert in knowing what your options are and what does that look like for you."
She says often times survivors are left in limbo between reporting a crime and being supported in a way that fulfills their definition of justice.
"How do we find the middle ground and that's where On My Terms shows up," said Rae.
The program gives those survivors more control over how to report an assault that first includes going directly to an advocate, like Rae, instead of a police officer or hospital.
"We're really reaching out to communities that aren't reporting because that is their barrier," said Rae.
The next step allows survivors to decide whether to process a report further and review it with an investigator. While the last decision is whether they want to open a formal investigation. According to the program's website, the process options look like this:
- Report
Your sexual assault advocate will provide your case to the police. You can choose not to have a formal investigation.
- Report and Review
After you Report, you can speak with an investigator about your case and discuss what next steps may take place.
- Report and Investigate
After you Report, your case will be assigned to an investigator for formal investigation.
"The investigations are complex not only because of the investigative process itself, but it's because we're dealing with human beings," said St. Paul Police Sergeant Vlad Krumgant. "These things are very, very personal to them and to me and I value that."
Sgt. Krumgant works in the sexual violence unit and directly with the county to combat these crimes.
"As an officer, I want to put the perpetrator, the offender, in jail for the crime they committed," said Sgt. Krumgant. "If that's not feasible, for whatever circumstances, the other form of success is at least the victim survivor got the resources they needed."
The county helped about 800 people last year. If there's evidence, it's stored at the police department before being moved to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. But more times than not, there isn't any. National statistics show that 63% of victims don't report the crime due to an antiquated process that may not work the best for everyone.
"If we can connect them right away at the forefront to get this stabilization, they're going to be far more successful moving forward with the criminal justice system if they want to," said Rae.
If you would like to report your sexual assault directly to police, please contact your local police department.
To connect with a sexual assault advocate:
- Call the SOS 24-hour Resource Line: 651-266-1000
- Email: asksos@co.ramsey.mn.us
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