SPOKANE, Wash. – A new program called ‘Seek Then Speak’ is now available for sexual assault survivors in Spokane County. It aims to offer privacy, control and support while providing a valuable resource for Spokane Police Department (SPD) to track down offenders.
Washington State introduced this program at the state level back in April. SPD says this initiative brings reporting to a more local level for the county.
“Seek” offers private access to information about medical care victim advocacy and support services. “Speak” allows survivors over the age of 18 to complete a self-guided interview at their own pace.
“It offers a lot of trauma-informed kind of tactics that would allow survivors feel more comfortable making their reports,” said a representative.
The national resource was created by the organization “Ending Violence Against Women International” and is now partnering with SPD.
Cheyenne Gillespie, a victim advocate, explained the program as an alternative available to victims to complete in their own environment. “That’s comfortable for them at their own pace,” she said.
Gillespie said the program is designed to help survivors privately gather information and resources unique to their situation. “We know that victims have a hard time coming forward, just cause of how many unknowns there are this program allows them to have a better idea of what the process would look like if they choose to move forward,” she said.
The program is accessible through the City of Spokane’s website or directly via “Seek Then Speak.” Once opened, users can choose to “Seek” or “Speak.” “Seek” provides resources such as local rape crisis centers and information on classifying sexually violent crimes. Selecting “Seek” will guide users through a questionnaire similar to a police interview, which can be done anonymously.
“So, what it’ll do is by the time they get to the end it will generate a PDF,” Gillespie said.
Once the report is created, users have options. “They can choose to save that PDF for their own records. They could choose to send that PDF to the police department or they can just get rid of it and never look at it again,” Gillespie said.
SPD leaders emphasize that this program does not replace traditional police investigations of sexual assault cases. They hope the private nature of this alternate route encourages more people to “speak up” and “seek” the help they deserve.
https://seekthenspeak.app/
