Jennifer Portman

News Director

In the aftermath of allegations last year that Florida State’s star quarterback raped a fellow student at his off-campus apartment, Tallahassee’s core institutions have been barraged by media attention, much of it critical of the handling of the case and others involving victims of sexual assault.

The Tallahassee Police Department has been excoriated for a poor initial investigation of the incident involving Jameis Winston. The prosecution of such crimes by the State Attorney’s Office, which did not press charges in the case, has been questioned and FSU is facing scrutiny by the federal government for its responses on campus.

All the while, the area’s domestic violence and rape crisis center, Refuge House, has remained largely in the background.

No more.

Meg Baldwin, executive director of Refuge House, which serves Leon and seven other Big Bend counties, has been working behind the scenes to ensure the community seizes the opportunity that comes with unwanted notoriety to improve its response to sexual assault cases.

“All of us have really been rocked by the experience and information we’ve gleaned about our whole community’s response to sexual assault over the last six months,” Baldwin said. “We have some really open opportunities now to make some serious change.”

Baldwin’s efforts already are gaining some traction. TPD is examining its sexual assault protocols and comparing them against model policies, is working to have an outside review of the department’s practices and later this month is co-hosting a training event in conjunction with the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence for investigators to improve the way such cases are handled.

The Second Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office is seeing and evaluating more sexual assault allegations and is open to more specialized training. FSU is evaluating its systems and practices to make sure it is doing all it can to foster a safe and secure campus.

And on June 11 — in conjunction with a public awareness campaign about its less well known, but comprehensive rape-crisis services — Refuge House is hosting a forum to highlight ways the community can do a better job to serve victims and see that rapists are held accountable.

“We both have the will and the means to move forward in a really productive way,” Baldwin said. “When there is a high-profile instance of sexual assault, often a particular bright light can be shown on a community’s level of capacity, performance and what we can do better as a result.”

A daunting problem

The statistics show there is much work to be done. As the overall number of sexual assaults statewide declined, Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show the number of reported forcible sexual assaults in Leon County increased last year by 41 percent, from 194 reported attacks in 2012, to 274 in 2013.

And because sexual assault is one of the most under-reported crimes — studies show about 80 to 85 percent of rape victims do not go to the police — the actual instances of rape are thought to be even higher. Prosecution of such cases also are low, with only about 10 percent resulting in the filing of charges and perhaps 40 percent of those resulting in some kind of conviction, according to noted University of Massachusetts Boston researcher David Lisak.

Young women are the most at-risk. In 2012-13, Refuge House forensic-response teams provided rape-kit exams and help to 106 sexual assault victims. Of those who received assistance, 100 were women and six were men. Ninety-nine who received rape-crisis services were from Leon County and more than two-thirds were under the age of 30 — 70 out of 106 victims. Of the 70, 43 were university or college students. National studies show one in five women are sexually assaulted while in college, most often in her freshman or sophomore year.

“We have two large universities here, and our own sexual violence-service statistics indicate that those students are among the most victimized and often the least help-seeking,” Baldwin said. “The impact of sexual assault is both traumatic and life-long and not infrequently life-ending. The rate of depression, loss of jobs, dropping out of school and giving up on the possibility of a joyful life is epidemic among survivors. We are losing thousands of young women to sexual violence every decade and we need to end that.”

Interim FSU President Garnett Stokes said the university welcomes the attention focused now on the issue.

“We are glad to see this national discussion on how colleges respond to sexual assault complaints because we are committed to making sure we have the best procedures in place to keep our students safe,” she said. “We are cooperating fully with the Office of Civil Rights’ review of our policies, which has only just begun, and we are already looking at planning our next steps.”

A call to action

Baldwin said there is no reason why Tallahassee can’t become a national model in the way it polices, prosecutes and helps prevent sexual assaults and how it serves victims.

Along with reviewing and adopting progressive, researched-based policies and better training of law enforcement, Refuge House advocates juror education, an annual external review of investigative files and tracking of case dispositions, among other changes.

Refuge House also is calling on FSU’s leadership to consider all best practices related to institutional responses to sexual assault, to create an outside advisory board to advise and review university protocols, internal processes and outcomes, including athletic department sexual violence prevention training.

“The truth is we all have daily relationships with each other, particularly among Refuge House, TPD, the Leon County Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office,” Baldwin said.

“We are literally in this boat together and none of us can do our job at the level that we all hope we can if we are not also giving our best efforts at improving and changing in ways that we know we can.”

Baldwin and others are pushing for police and prosecutors to review model policies and best practices advocated by groups such as the White House’s Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Police Executive Research Forum and Human Rights Watch.

“Creating a community environment where victims are comfortable reporting sexual assaults requires commitment by law enforcement, prosecutors, advocates and medical staff, and should not be affected by budgetary constraints,” said Natalie Kato, Southern State Policy Advocate for Human Rights Watch.

“Increasing transparency, improving training and ensuring accountability at each step of the investigation certainly take time, but taking these steps will increases reporting, which will in turn increase the number of perpetrators brought to justice.”

Improvements underway

The Tallahassee/Leon County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls has joined in the effort. In the wake of the Winston incident and national media reports, the commission has formed a sexual assault policy group to delve into the issue and find out what policies and procedures are in place here to address sexual assaults and how they compare to leading national efforts.

“There is a perception in the community that we have an issue that needs to be addressed. Whether or not that perception is misplaced needs some investigation,” said Jessica Lowe-Minor, the commission’s chairwoman. “Once we’ve had a chance to look at those policy and procedures and compare them to best practices, we will be able to tell if this case was an outlier or if it is reflective of things that need to be changed.”

Chief Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman said in the Winston case, the system failed on multiple levels, and there is certainly room for improvement.

“I’m looking for ways to improve the experience for a victim, but it’s never going to be quick and it’s never going to be easy,” Cappleman said. “We can be more consistent, we are open to more training and we are open to being better advocates, but we are never going to be able to prosecute every case.

“We should aspire to do right every single time and we do that,” she added, “but I don’t think we will ever all agree on what’s right.”

TPD Chief Michael DeLeo agreed that sexual-assault cases are often difficult and complex.

“The challenge with the criminal investigation is our suspects also have rights too and it can be a very difficult balancing act because we can’t always look at just one side,” he said. “Under the best circumstance they are often very difficult cases to prove.”

Still, DeLeo is looking to improve the department’s response. He has been talking to Baldwin and other groups and consulting with the nonprofit End Violence Against Women International, which works with police departments to review their sexual assault practices. He said TPD is looking at how its policies stack up against a model policy and will use that as a baseline to identify areas of improvement. The department is also looking at incorporating the nonprofit’s free online training programs.

But, DeLeo cautioned, such efforts take time, but in the end he wants the department to be a recognized leader. “You want to be the agency that people say, ‘What does TPD do?’ ” he said. “You want to become the measuring stick.”

Law enforcement should not be the sole focus of the community’s response to the issue of sexual assault, he said. For example, while Refuge House provides sexual-assault services for victims, he pointed out Tallahassee does not have a stand-alone sexual assault treatment center.

“If we are going to be adults about it and admit we have an issue going on in our community, then let’s get serious about fixing it,” DeLeo said. “That would be a tremendous resource to show people and victims that the community is serious, they are taking the issue seriously and are dedicating resources to provide what they need not only for the investigative part, but long term to help them recover and bounce back as a survivor.”

DeLeo added: “I’m not saying we all can’t find areas to improve, but where is the community coming together to say let’s put our money where our mouth is?”

Community Forum

Refuge House is hosting a community forum on the community’s response to sexual assault cases at 6:30 p.m. June 11 at the University Center Club. Amy Hurdy, the producer of a new documentary on campus sexual assault, will be the keynote speaker. For more information on the event or about Refuge House’s rape-crisis services, call 850-681-2111.