{"id":257800,"date":"2026-04-08T16:25:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T16:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/257800\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T16:25:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T16:25:27","slug":"kern-county-organizations-continue-work-to-prevent-sexual-assault-healing-and-justice-for-survivors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/257800\/","title":{"rendered":"Kern County organizations continue work to prevent sexual assault, healing and justice for survivors"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Child Abuse Prevention month in Kern County. The Open Door Network<\/a> continues its partnership with Bakersfield police and the sheriff\u2019s office to prevent, heal, and find justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cSexual violence impacts individuals of every age, background and neighborhood. But behind every statistic is a person,\u201d said Lauren Skidmore, the Open Door Network CEO.<\/p>\n

The statistics are harrowing \u2014 Bakersfield police received 59 sexual assault reports in 2025, and 19 so far this year. The Bakersfield Police Department has 13 officers in its special victims unit \u2014 the task force handling cases of sexual assault.<\/p>\n

Watch 17 News, After Sunrise and more local news free on your smart TV. Click to learn more about KGET+ <\/a><\/p>\n

Assistant Bakersfield Police Chief Brent Stratton said 85% of sexual assaults are caused by someone the victim knows or in a position of trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult often times for victims to be vulnerable. To be able to communicate everything that occurred. They\u2019re dealing with betrayal and mistrust and physical harm and emotional harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

And more often than not, Skidmore said sexual assault and domestic violence go hand in hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that domestic violence can usually start in a more verbal fashion, it could lead to physical, and then it can lead into sexual assault.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the law enforcement side, Bakersfield has seen an uptick in domestic violence homicides, while gang-related homicides have gone down.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proportional amount of domestic violence related homicides are increasing. So we\u2019re wanting to see if we can apply the model towards group and gang violence to domestic violence related homicides as well,\u201d said Stratton.<\/p>\n

Bakersfield City Council approves $2.5M for The Open Door Network homeless shelter despite mixed opinions <\/a><\/p>\n

Some of the warning signs include: if your loved one is being more reclusive, asking their partner permission to do things, and physical signs.<\/p>\n

But Skidmore said there are resources for victims to utilize. \u201cThere is a confidential resource with the Open Door Network, and law enforcement is there if you are open and willing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Open Door Network will also help with filing restraining orders.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a survivor of sexual assault, help is available. You can call the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673. In Bakersfield, you can reach out to the Open Door Network or the Family Justice Center. Both organizations provide walk-in services.<\/p>\n

\"Resources<\/p>\n

Resources for sexual assault survivors<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Child Abuse Prevention month in Kern County. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152,324,113958,4749,735,100428,8414,2531,33660],"class_list":["post-257800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-bakersfield-police-department","tag-child-abuse-prevention-month","tag-domestic-violence","tag-kern-county","tag-lauren-skidmore","tag-open-door-network","tag-sexual-assault","tag-special-victims-unit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}