KBI training looks to shift the way society views sexual assault

The Kansas Bureau of Investigations wants to ensure victims of sexual assault receive the best treatment possible.

On Monday, the KBI held the first of eight training sessions Monday for police, prosecutors, nurses and other professionals.

"It's making sure that the people who work with the victims and survivors of sexual assault understand trauma," training instructor Tom Tremblay said. "It's impact, and the best approaches for working with victims who have experienced trauma."

Organizers said this type of training is important for everyone within the community.

"This isn't something that just one stakeholder can do alone or solve by themselves. It's something that really requires the efforts of the full community to ensure that victims are well cared for and also to hold offenders accountable,” the KBI's Megan Roberts said.

The two-day training allows everyone in attendance to explore the topic of rape culture and some misconceptions through real cases.

"The more examples you can show of how to correct the behavior, the more effective you are with the type of trainings you deliver,” Roberts explained.

The group then looks at better ways to respond to not only the victims, but their offenders as well.

"The way that we're talking about sexual assault and sexual assault awareness and how we respond and investigate and prosecute has changed substantially over the past 5 years,” Tremblay said.

Tremblay said he hopes the training helps shift the conversation of sexual assault.

"it's really getting us to explore those to think about the ways society views sexual assault and its impact on our ability to objectively respond, investigate, and prosecute these type of cases,” he added.

Other attendees like Billi Pryor who is a nurse agreed that there’s a lot of work to be done.

"I'm thinking that there's a lot of education that needs to be done everywhere,” she said.

Monday was the first training of the year, and it will continue across the state.