
Community Collaboration
The Women’s Fund is working collaboratively to ensure that together, we are creating a community where women are free from violence–including sex trafficking, domestic violence, sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Review key accomplishments of the Freedom from Violence initiative in this Year-End Report.
Survivor Voices Amplified
We are dedicated to ensuring that we have a survivors’ lens on community-wide protocols, agency policies, materials and resources created for victims. Survivors help to inform trainings for professionals; testify for bills and identify services needed in our community.
The Women’s Fund provides funding to Survivors Rising, a survivor-led organization, to provide technical leadership in the community – by survivors, for survivors. Research indicates long-term positive outcomes for survivors who are connected to their peers. Mentored by others who have similar experiences, survivors have a consistent resource giving them the ability to move forward.
Learn more from survivors in Nothing About Us Without Us.
Check My Kit Project Update
Sufficient funding is necessary to ensure that sexual assault kits are processed in a timely manner. LB 1079, introduced by Senator Anna Wishart, addresses this need and was passed by the Legislature in 2020. There is currently a year backlog between the time a kit is submitted to the State Crime Lab until it is analyzed and evidence is entered into the DNA database. This means – it may be at least a year before we are able to identify and stop serial rapists in communities across our state. LB 1079 was passed as part of the state budget in the 2020 session and provides additional funding for the State Crime Lab to support the timely processing of sexual assault kits. Survivors deserve to know the outcomes of their forensic exams, and our communities are safer when we are able to identify serial offenders.
Legal Guide for Representing Victims/Survivors of Sex Trafficking
Representing Victims/Survivors of Sex Trafficking in Nebraska: A Guide for Legal Practitioners is a resource to help all advocates working within Nebraska’s legal system understand the complex realities of sex trafficking, learn how to support survivors and gather insight into state and federal legislation. This guide was developed by the Women’s Fund of Omaha in partnership with HTI Labs, Legal Aid of Nebraska, University of Nebraska College of Law, Civil Clinic – Clean Slate Project and Women’s Center for Advancement.
The full guide for legal practitioners can be viewed online.
Bill to Clarify, Simplify and Strengthen Protection Orders for Survivors
LB 532, passed into law in 2019, clarifies, simplifies and strengthens the process of obtaining legal protection for survivors of harassment, domestic abuse and sexual assault.
A victim of violence may pursue a protection order to seek legally-enforceable protections from physical or sexual violence, intimidation or harassment. The type of protection order a victim will seek depends on the specifics of their situation.
Commercial Sexual Exploitation
Every month, 900 individuals are sold for sex online in Nebraska with 70-75% of those sold showing signs for trafficking. Sex trafficking is happening in our state and we are committed to the long-term and comprehensive solutions to ending trafficking. The research, gathered by HTI Labs (formerly the Human Trafficking Initiative at Creighton University), is helping to inform policy change and identify solutions in our community.
This research helped to identify the need for harsher penalties. During the 2017 Nebraska legislative session, the Women’s Fund worked with Senator Patty Pansing Brooks to introduce LB 289 to increase penalties for trafficking and solicitation.
If you suspect sex trafficking, report it to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 888-373-7888 or text HELP to BEFREE (233733).
Learn more about Nebraska’s Commercial Sex Market online. You can also learn more about the collaborative effort to raise awareness about sex trafficking in Omaha at www.StopTraffickingTogether.org. To request a training on human trafficking in Nebraska, please complete this form.
Human Resource Toolkit
Sexual assault, stalking, sexual harassment, domestic violence and sex trafficking are crimes of physical and emotional violation. This violence impacts a large portion of people in the Omaha community, making it difficult for them to go to work, feel safe and live their lives.
Domestic/Sexual Violence and the Workplace: An Employee Toolkit provides local employees with resources on what domestic and sexual violence looks like. If you have experienced any of these forms of violence, this guide provides you with resources and suggestions for staying safe in the workplace.
This resource was a collaboration of the Women’s Fund and the Human Resource Association of the Midlands. The full electronic toolkit is available online for free.