A Survey for Survivors of Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking

The following survey is intended to be used as research about the impact of the media on victims and survivors of crime and trauma. This research is being conducted by former journalist, Victimology professor and Pickup Communications founder Tamara Cherry with the goal of producing educational materials that will help investigators, victim service providers and members of the media better understand and support victims and survivors in their interactions (or lack thereof) with the media. Your responses may be quoted fully, or in part, within materials (such as a research paper, book, presentations and various other educational tools) connected to the research. Some survivors cannot be publicly identified due to a publication ban. Please indicate if this is the case. If you do not wish to be identified in research materials, please indicate in the appropriate section at the end of this survey and your wishes will be respected. Please answer each question as fully as you feel comfortable.

Thank you for your participation. Your voice is important and your insights, difficult as they may be to recount, are valuable.

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* 1. Your name (please indicate if this is a pseudonym):

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* 2. Are you a survivor of sexual assault, human trafficking or both?

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* 3. Date (or date range) and city (or cities) of your victimization:

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* 4. Had you ever had any encounters with the media before your sexual assault? If so, in what capacity and to what extent?

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* 5. Was your case reported to police?

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* 6. If you did file a report to police, was a news release issued about your case?

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* 7. If there was a news release issued about your case, how did that make you feel?

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* 8. If there was not a news release issued about your case, how did that make you feel?

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* 9. Was there media coverage about your case? If so, at one point(s) and to what extent?

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* 10. Did members of the media approach you to discuss your case? If so, what methods were used to contact you? How did this make you feel?

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* 11. If members of the media did not approach you to discuss your case, how did that make you feel?

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* 12. Alternately, did you or a representative approach the media? If so, what was the context and what response did you receive?

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* 13. If you had interactions with the media, please describe what your interactions were and how they made you feel. Did you feel equipped to interact with the media?

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* 14. If your case was covered in the media, was there anything about the media coverage of your case that you found to be particularly traumatic or triggering? Please explain.

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* 15. If your case was covered in the media, was there anything about the media coverage that you found to be particularly positive? Please explain.

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* 16. If your case was not covered in the media, how did that make you feel?

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* 17. Has there been anything about the media coverage of other sexual assault or human trafficking cases that you felt to be particularly traumatic or triggering?

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* 18. Has there been anything about the media coverage of other sexual assault or human trafficking cases that you felt to be particularly positive?

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* 19. Is there any terminology used in the media coverage of sexual assault or human trafficking cases that you find to be particularly traumatic, upsetting or insensitive?

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* 20. Is there any terminology used in the media coverage of sexual assault or human trafficking cases that you find to be particularly positive, empowering or compassionate?

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* 21. Do you see a benefit to survivors of sexual assault and/or human trafficking sharing their stories publicly?

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* 22. What would your advice be to investigators and/or victim service providers looking to support survivors of sexual violence and/or human trafficking in the media coverage of their cases?

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* 23. What would your advice be to journalists covering these cases?

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* 24. Is there anything you would like to add about the impact of the media on survivors of sexual assault and/or human trafficking?

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* 25. To the extent that you are comfortable, please share any additional details about your case that you feel are relevant to your above comments.

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* 26. Are you comfortable being contacted for follow-up information or clarification, if necessary? If so, please share your preferred method of contact here.

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* 27. If your name is not protected by a publication ban, to what extent are you comfortable being identified in relation to your responses? (For example, full name, initials, first name only, pseudonym of your choosing, etc.).

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