Training
Trauma-Informed Sexual Assault Investigations
Presented by the Virginia Office of the Attorney General
The Virginia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) team at the Virginia Office of the Attorney General offers a free Trauma-Informed Sexual Assault Investigations training. This training is based on the curriculum developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and is approved by the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) for Partial In-service Credits (PIC) for law enforcement. It is also approved by the Virginia State Bar for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits for attorneys.
The training promotes best practices for responding to and investigating trauma-related crimes, primarily sexual assault. It focuses on trauma-informed, victim-centered, and offender-focused multidisciplinary responses, employing nationally recognized, research-supported methods.
This training is facilitated by the Virginia SAKI team and is available to law enforcement, Commonwealth's attorneys, victim advocates, forensic nurses, social workers, Title IX coordinators, dispatchers, emergency services, and other allied professionals. It can be customized into a partial four-hour session, a partial one-day session, or the full two-day course. The Virginia SAKI team is available to travel across the Commonwealth of Virginia to train your agency or jurisdiction. For more information, please contact saki@oag.state.va.us
Upcoming trainings:
Starting January 2026, SAKI is migrating to web-based registration for training:
If you're interested in hosting or attending a training in your area, contact saki@oag.state.va.us.
Please Note:
Attendance Requirements:
A minimum of 10 participants is required for this training to proceed. If the minimum is not met, the session will be canceled or rescheduled for a later date.
Scheduling Information:
Please note that trainings will not be scheduled to begin on Mondays, regardless of the session length. To ensure effective use of resources, this in-person training is only available between Tuesdays and Fridays. Unfortunately, at this time, we do not offer a virtual version of this training.
Quotes from Previous Trainees
"Very informative and thought provoking."
"Gave me ideas that I wasn’t aware of. The statistics presented were eye-opening. Course of conduct investigations will be brought back to my department."
"Learned a great deal on what I have been doing wrong while interviewing victims."
"I thought this training was very informative. I learned a lot and have better perspectives relating to trauma that I am excited to take back and practice in my career."
"Never realized the impact of trauma on people, nor the different types of trauma. Learned never to say never."