Newsletter: January 2004: Connecting the Dots

Harriet Lessel, Executive Director for the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, testified at a City Council hearing entitled “Holding Sex Offenders Accountable and Int. 584” on October 22, 2003.  The hearing was held by Council Members Yvette Clarke and Peter Vallone Jr., Chairs of the Committees on Fire & Criminal Justice Services and Public Safety, respectively.

Ms. Lessel testified in support of the development and maintenance of resources for the New York City Department of Probation in order for them to appropriately supervise sex offenders living in the community.  The Department supervises about 1,400 sex offenders -- the average caseload for one probation officer is 65 probationers.  The Alliance believes that sex offenders in the community require intensive supervision by the NYC Department of Probation in order not to re-offend.

Ms. Lessel stated that in order to ensure the safety of survivors and the public, while also considering how to integrate offenders into the communities in which they live, it is important to create a pro-active, collaborative system that involves all parties that have a stake in ensuring that the public is safe from sex offenses.  This approach requires a streamlined coordination of agency tasks, clear definition and delineation of roles, assessment of collaborative needs, regular flow of information and data, and participation and accountability by all parties involved in the process- the supervision agency, the treatment provider, victim advocacy community, law enforcement officers, defense attorneys, judges, prosecutors, schools and families.  

Council Member Yvette Clarke made the connection during the hearing between the management of sex offenders and the prevention of abuse through early intervention with young people.  As a result, Council Member Clarke organized a meeting to hear from victim treatment providers about prevention efforts.  A number of organizations participated including the Alliance, Kingsbridge Heights Community Center, the Long Island College Hospital Rape Crisis Intervention/Victims of Violence Program, Girls, Inc. of NYC, and Safe Horizon.

Recommendations from that meeting included the need for awareness, prevention, and intervention in schools.  The Dignity for All Students Act (DASA-NYC), Int. 418-A, introduced by Council Member Alan Gerson, would help create policies and procedures to combat harassment in city and private non-parochial schools by setting up a tracking system to document the types of harassment that are occurring, set up teacher and employee training programs, and designate the school principal as the person responsible for acting on sexual assault incidents.  

The Alliance applauds Council Member Yvette Clarke for making the connection between the management of sex offenders and intervention in schools.  Often times, issues surrounding sexual assault are viewed in isolation, rather than viewing the problem from a wider lens.  Issues of poverty, homelessness, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, anti-social personality disorder, acting out in schools -- all can be related to sexual violence.  It is important to understand sexual assault not as a single-issue oriented problem, but as a problem with a complex array of stakeholders and variables, requiring a complex array of solutions.

Faith Huckel is the Social Work Student Policy Intern at the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault. [more]

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