Myths, Gender Norms, and Implicit Bias: Silent Killers of Sexual Assault Juries - OPAA 2025

Sexual assault cases can be some of the most difficult to prosecute. Even when the evidence is there, juries often make decisions based on stereotypes and implicit biases that have plagued our society for decades. This training focuses on Start by Believing, a public awareness campaign started by EVAWI, designed to improve the public response to sexual assault. The goal is to provide communities, inevitably citizens who are potential jurors, with factual information surrounding what rape truly looks like, how our implicit biases can shape our judgment of victims and perpetrators, and how this trauma can affect victims’ reactions and decisions.

Through this campaign, Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich strives to improve how sexual assault cases are handled in our community and ultimately hold more perpetrators accountable. Every response matters.

Topics To Be Covered:

1. Uncover why we need to address negative responses and reactions to sexual violence and victims of these crimes. (15 minutes)
2. Explore implicit bias, including gender role norms, and how they affect our judgments in sexual assault cases. (20 minutes)
3. Dispel myths surrounding sexual assault that have persisted in our society by providing factual information to expand the understanding of these victimizations and their effects on victims. (15 minutes)
4. Provide simple solutions that can improve our response to victims, create an environment that is conducive to reporting to law enforcement, and ultimately holds more offenders accountable. (10 minutes)