Our Mission, Philosophy, and History
Mission
We, the women and men of United Against Sexual Assault, working in partnership with the community, strive to eliminate all forms of violence, with a special focus on sexual assault and abuse. Sexual assault is an unacceptable and unconscionable form of oppression, which is destructive to the lives of survivors, their families, and friends. UASA facilitates healing and promotes the prevention of violence by providing counseling, advocacy, intervention, and education, in our communities.
Philosophy
We promote social justice and equality for all women, men and children who have been sexually assaulted. We are committed to ending sexual violence by working to eliminate those conditions that cause or tolerate it. We recognize that the process of ending violence in our community involves a partnership of individuals, groups and institutions. We are an active partner in that effort as a member of the community.
Brief History
United Against Sexual Assault of Sonoma County (UASA) was founded in 1974 as Women Against Rape, a grassroots organization for women who were traumatized by rape. The agency consisted of a phone number women could call for emotional support. That crisis line is still the only one of its kind in Sonoma County, and operates 24 hours a day,7 days a week. Today UASA is governed by a board of directors numbering up to 12, with day-to-day operations performed by a paid staff of 14 and more than 40 volunteers.
Over the past 35 years, the organization has undergone many changes and greatly expanded the services it is able to offer the people of our community. Staff and volunteers complete an extensive training, learning specific ways to help victims, which include not only women and girls, but also men, children and the families of victims. They learn about the devastating effects of rape trauma syndrome and other health issues – both physical and mental – law enforcement and court procedures, and all the resources available in our community. This is just a portion of the training and information each person receives. These individuals not only give their time to work the crisis line phone, but they also accompany victims and their families when asked. This may be for any number of different reasons – police reporting, court appearances and testifying, medical-legal exams at the hospital, for which support is needed.
Milestones of which we are proud:
- 1980 – Implementation of the first child abuse prevention program (CAPP) in Sonoma County. CAPP empowers children to protect and seek help for themselves, and help one another.
- 1985 – Expansion of the prevention program to include a teen assault prevention program (TAPP). UASA spearheaded a consortium of anti-violence groups and designed an anti-violence curriculum for teens dealing with issues of incest, abuse, family violence, date rape, myths, victim blaming, and relationship violence.
(See below for UASA’s prevention program details.) - 2000 – Organization name change from Women Against Rape to United Against Sexual Assault (UASA) to reflect the current mission of serving BOTH male and female sexual assault victims.
- 2001 – Establishment of a unique men’s program featuring men educating men and working together to promote social change, learning what they can do to actively participate in the elimination of sexual assault.
- 2002 – Expansion of violence prevention outreach with the establishment of a bilingual Spanish/English section, ‘Teens Speaking Out’ on UASA’s website www.uasasonoma.org/teens to serve Hispanic teens whose cultural orientation might otherwise prohibit discussion or education; a customized curriculum for at-risk youth residing in group/foster homes; teen peer education training (teens teaching teens about non-violent dating); a teen support group; and an anti-racism curriculum which addresses the growing violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations and all people who face human rights violations.
- 2003 – UASA plays a key role in creating the county’s pioneering SART (sexual assault response team) program, which unites law enforcement, mental health, legal, and advocacy agencies into a single team dedicated to supporting the victim and her/his family. SART defines and outlines a compassionate and thorough protocol for the handling of victims of violence from the point of first contact. By consolidating all local services and making them easily accessible, this collaborative effort strives to minimize the stress felt by victims and reduce the risk that they or their affected family members might "fall through the crack".
- 2004 – UASA implements comprehensive website to help sexual assault and abuse victims and their families understand and heal from their ordeal.
- 2005 – MOST ("Men of Strength") Club implemented. MOST targets men 14 – 18 and stresses "My Strength is Not for Hurting". One of only 6 agencies state-wide, UASA was selected by California Coalition Against Sexual Assault to participate in a campaign focused on preventing perpetration of sexual violence by young men.
- 2006 – Translation of UASA’s website www//UASASonoma.org into Spanish language.