Uma For Survivors

We train medical professionals on how to provide adequate medical care and counseling to sexual assault survivors in India. OUR FOCUS Our area of focus is the "second rape," a phenomenon in which societal response to a sexual assault survivor's account of rape is so demeaning and demoralizing that it causes a second wave of trauma. According to Rebecca Campbell, a professor of Community Psychology and Program Evaluation at Michigan State University, "When victims do report to the criminal justice system, the way in which they're treated is very distressing to [them]. And they do describe it as a second rape or secondary victimization. Something that exacerbates their post-traumatic stress symptoms above and beyond the rape itself." In order to address the potentially traumatic process of reporting assault and seeking justice, UMA for Survivors aims to provide training to address the stigma around sexual assault, especially in the medical community that are the first responders to an assault. We are partnering with universities to implement workshops that train future medical professionals on how to deliver high quality care to survivors. We have partnered with Smt. Kashibai Navale Medical College to host our first workshop aimed at training future doctors and nurses on how to treat and counsel sexual assault survivors. The workshop will be a comprehensive facilitation between medical students, volunteers, and social justice facilitators and will cover: - Inclusive, United Nations-sanctioned definition and underlying causes of sexual assault - Common myths and misconceptions - Current process of post-trauma care (or lack thereof) for survivors - Best practices, such as legal procedure, correct rape kit and toxicology procedure, non-discrimination policies, etc. We are looking for more participants to host these workshops to continue the momentum we have built.