Teen sexual assault victims may face unique hurdles to navigating the criminal justice system. Advocates can play a critical role in helping teens have a full opportunity to navigate the criminal justice system if they choose to do so.

• Many people fail to recognize the severity and potential lethality of teen dating violence, including some law enforcement and prosecutors. Advocates for victims of teen dating violence involving sexual assault or sexual abuse can help law enforcement and prosecutors understand the realities of TDV. Module 7 provides tips for communicating information to criminal justice professionals.
• Social media often plays a large role in the perpetration of sexual violence against teens. It may be the mechanism that the perpetrator used to contact the victim, it may be a platform in which communications between the perpetrator and victim took place that are useful to the criminal investigation, or it may be a mechanism for ongoing harassment or intimidation by the perpetrator (e.g., sharing images of the victim’s intimate body parts or that show the victim involved in sexual acts). Advocates can assist victims in preserving social media communications and providing them to law enforcement and prosecution. Advocates should also help victims discuss with the prosecution which aspects of the victims’ social media account will be utilized in a case so that victims are prepared for this loss of privacy.
• Harassment and bullying that occurs over social media platforms can also be a factor for advocates to consider in safety planning with victims. This sort of harassment can be incredibly traumatic and isolating for victims. Advocates should discuss whether any such harassment is being committed, and help victims safety plan and alert law enforcement and prosecutors to the harassment.
• Advocates can provide information to law enforcement and prosecutors to help them understand the neurobiology of the teen brain. This information may help law enforcement/prosecution understand evidence that otherwise would have been viewed as contradictory. For example, law enforcement may doubt the credibility of a teen sexual assault victim where the victim sent nude photos to the perpetrator and continued social media communications with the perpetrator after the sexual assault. Understanding both the dynamics of trauma and the neurobiology of the teen brain would help law enforcement understand that this impulsivity does not negate the victim’s narrative of the sexual assault.
• Advocates can help victims seek support from their families and schools. Many sexual assault victims experience feelings of shame and isolation. Teen victims, who may still reside with family and/or attend school full-time, often fear disclosing the sexual assault to their families or to their school despite the impact the trauma is having on these aspects of their lives. Advocates can help victims prepare to have these discussions so they are supported at home and at school and be prepared for family members or school personnel who may be unsupportive when learning of their trauma.