When you ‘see something, say something’

Faced with an increasing number of sexual assault incidents on island, the CNMI’s Sexual Assault Response Team is ramping up its campaign to let people know of services that are available to survivors and victims, and making these services even more accessible.

Speaking at a news briefing at the Saipan World Resort last Wednesday, representatives of groups under the Sexual Assault Response Team, which includes the Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Karidat Social Services, and the Office of the Attorney General, explained that they are working to increase access for services intended for survivors and victims of sexual assault.

Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds of the OAG Criminal Division disclosed at the news briefing that the rates of reported sexual crime, and the number of sexual assault and abuse in the CNMI, have increased, instead of decreasing, and urged the community that if they “see something, say something,” and not to ignore what is happening.

Maisie B. Tenorio, NMCADSV executive director, said it is critical to involve our community, “to involve everybody out there in the CNMI to address sexual assault, so that we can start to hold offenders accountable.”

She said that holding people accountable is not just within the criminal justice system, but also in the community. “I think that type of accountability is so much more powerful, when the community says, ‘We will not tolerate sexual assault, sex offenders are the only ones to blame for sexual assault,’ and you start to put those messages out there, I think that will really increase reporting and then we can start to identify offenders in our community and stop sexual assault,” she said.

Lauri Ogumorro, Karidat’s executive director, also noted that they seek to provide victim-centered services, and emphasized the need to support survivors’ and victims’ needs.

Tenorio said the CNMI’s Sexual Assault Response Team is trying to create a system response that includes every agency in the CNMI that may encounter victims of sexual assault and sexual abuse. Another part of their mission and goals for the next few years is to ensure that service providers and responders are also being taken cared of and are equipped and trained to provide the responses needed in these difficult situations.

Tenorio said team members, alongside the coalition, have been organizing training events for service providers, as well as developing policies and finding gaps and solutions that can be made and addressed.

“…There is so much happening behind the scenes to increase and create this collaborative response that is trauma informed and victim-centered,” she said.

The response team is also working to walk through and support victims during the process of getting justice against offenders or through the step-by-step process to access needed and available services.