Hold Team Meetings . Monitor and Evaluate Your Efforts . Sustain Your SART . Know Your Team . Critical Issues
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Define the SART's Jurisdiction
Other Jurisdictional Issues
Jurisdictional issues can surface in many other ways (e.g., sexual assault of U.S. citizens in foreign countries, sexual assault of undocumented victims). Two examples—border issues and cruise ships at sea—are discussed briefly here.
The Memphis Sexual Assault Resource Center borders a tri-state area that includes eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi, and western Tennessee. Victims sexually assaulted in regions bordering Memphis are transported to the center, which is a designated site for sexual assault medical forensic exams. Center advocates keep informed of each state's victims' rights laws and forensic nurses travel between states to testify as experts or provide information on the forensic evidence collected. Despite the jurisdictional lines, differences in state laws and statutes, and distances between agencies, victims receive continuity of care from the first call for help to the offenders' sentencing because of the multistate collaboration.4
The Cruise Line Accurate Safety Statistics Act was introduced in 2006 but was not passed. It would have required that cruise ships report any serious crimes against Americans on board to authorities within 4 hours. The bill also would have required cruise ships to have sufficient procedures and equipment in place for conducting investigations of crimes on board. The legislation also would have guaranteed that victims would know where to turn in the event of a serious crime by requiring cruise tickets sold in this country to include a list of all U.S. embassies and consulates in each country the ship would visit during its voyage.
