PAVSA Launches ‘A Step Forward’ in Accordance with Sexual Assault Awareness Month

DULUTH, Minn. – “I Emily Larson, the Mayor of city of Duluth, do officially proclaim the month of April 2023 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the City of Duluth,” Mayor of Duluth, Emily Larson says.

On Monday, Duluth Mayor Emily Larson proclaimed April, Sexual Assault Awareness month, and in accordance, PAVSA, a program to aid victims of sexual assault, announced their ‘A Step Forward’ public awareness campaign.

“As many of you know, we’ve been working to improve our response in Duluth, St. Louis County, and Minnesota. We have put in place safeguards to prevent future backlogs. Survivors can have confidence when they step forward that our system has stepped forward to support them,” PAVSA Executive Director, Sara Niemi says.

In order to handle cases of sexual violence in a more responsive manner, new reforms and safeguards issued by the state have been put in place.

“These reforms are taking us in the right direction. Law enforcement and prosecutors across the state are now better equipped to seek justice for victim survivors of sexual assault,” St. Louis County Attorney’s Office Head of Duluth Criminal Division, Nathaniel Stumme says.

‘A Step Forward’ highlights these reforms which include updates to criminal sexual conduct statutes, including the elimination of the statute of limitations in certain cases.

Victim aged thresholds that are used to make charges more serious have also increased across the board from 13 to 14 years old.

Head of the Duluth Criminal Division, Nathaniel Stumme says perpetrators will no longer be able to wait out an arbitrary time limit because there is no longer a time limit on charging these offenses.

“Very importantly, the legal definition of mentally incapacitated has been reformed. The voluntary intoxication loophole is now closed,” Stumme says.

“Now when a victim reports a sexual assault to the Duluth Police Department, we submit that kit to a state crime lab within 60 days. Our investigators have been through additional training and ongoing training on trauma informed interviewing at how victims can make their report when they are ready to do so,” Duluth Police Chief, Mike Ceynowa says.

Now when a survivor is ready to or if they choose to, they can make a report public to the police department and give consent for that case to be tested. Organizers say the intent of this reform is to eliminate the pressure of having to report an act immediately.

“These changes that we’ve learned about that are getting instituted that are happening are because we as a community and as a legal community, a justice community, an advocate community are listening to the needs of survivors, are working in concert with what can help you have a thriving beautiful life that you deserve,” Larson says.

In 2022, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension launched Track-Kit which is a secure web-based portal that allows victim survivors to track their evidence from the hospital to the state crime laboratory.

“The goal of this system is to increase transparency and accountability for survivors. Victim survivors have the right to know the status of their sexual assault kit,” Niemi says.

PAVSA advocates are available 24-7. To learn more about the ‘A Step Forward’ Campaign, you can do so at pavsa.org.