Tulsa Nonprofit To Host Community Conversation Confronting Sexual, Dating Violence

A local nonprofit organization is working to prevent sex crimes. The Tulsa Police Department's Special Victims Unit said it has already investigated nearly 250 cases this year. Of those 98 were rape, 27 were lewd molestation of a minor, and four were attempted rape.

Domestic Violence Intervention Services, Inc. (DVIS) is hosting a community conversation Tuesday night in the auditorium of Tulsa Community College Northeast Campus. DVIS CEO, Tracey Lyall, will be joined on the panel by a Tulsa Police officer, member of the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office, and a sexual assault survivor.

Lyall said they will talk about how to confront sexual and dating violence as well as outline the resources available to survivors and their family members.

"We just want to arm people with things to be careful of, how to stay safe, how to buddy up with someone," she continued saying, "Also, how to intervene, what kind of things you can say to intervene whether you are male or female and see something that is going awry, just really getting the education out there so we can prevent sexual violence from occurring."

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) said only 25-30% of sexual assaults are reported to law enforcement. DVIS hopes this community conversation will help remove some of the stigma for survivors.

"It is something people do not like to think about, and it is something kept pretty quiet, particularly for survivors," said Lyall. "We just want the community to know where to send people if they know someone that they love who has been harmed or experienced any type of sexual violence."

Tuesday night's community conversation is free and open to the public. It starts at 6 p.m. and will be followed by a question-and-answer session.