The RALIANCE team was proud to co-sponsor the 2026 National Sexual Assault Conference in Washington DC, as well as sponsor a track of sessions which sparked some amazing discussions. We were privileged to facilitate conversations about connecting the sexual violence prevention field and the corporate sector, provide educational resources to attendees and to gain important insight from them on situations they’re encountering in the field.
Here are some key takeaways from our hosted sessions and how they might be of use to your organization:
Closing the Gap: Strategies and Tools for Creating Safer Workplaces
Using accountability frameworks and the RALIANCE Sexual Misconduct and Violence taxonomy, this session focused on sexual violence prevention in workplaces, data collection, and common understandings of sexual misconduct, harassment, and assault. As an attendee of the session wisely pointed out, reaching a collective definition of sexual violence is vital to combatting it – this is the precise purpose of the taxonomy. During the session, we explored a body of research related to accountability in the workplace and discussed comprehensive tools and strategies for preventionists when working with workplaces in their communities.
RALIANCE team members (left to right): Halle Nelson, Social Media Manager, Julia Mallory, Project Coordinator, Tori VandeLinde, Director of Consulting Services & Partnerships
The Future of Funding in the Sexual Violence Prevention Field: Future Mapping Findings
At NSAC in 2025, RALIANCE hosted a session to discuss the funding needs of organizations within the sexual violence prevention field. Participants were provided a future mapping questionnaire to provide feedback and insight into their experiences, needs, and concerns related to funding. This session presented those findings and sparked conversation with attendees on how the funding landscape has changed and what challenges have persisted over the past year, such as difficulty with sourcing funding from a dwindling pool of resources while continuing to provide vital services to survivors and the field more broadly.
RALIANCE Project Coordinator, Julia Mallory, presenting in a workshop.
Driving Change: How Cross-Sector Partnerships Can Advance Safety and Equity
Ending sexual violence and advancing equity requires collaboration across a variety of settings, not just organizations exclusively focused on prevention work. Leading this workshop was Uber’s Ebony Tucker, who discussed a wide range of safety measures and policies the company has implemented in recent years. The session highlighted the need for collaboration between the anti sexual violence movement and businesses or other corporate partners. This includes activities like partnering with RALIANCE to evaluate a company’s use of RALIANCE’s taxonomy to categorize sexual harassment, misconduct, and assault reports. This session discussed the importance of RALIANCE’s taxonomy in setting standard and uniform definitions for different problematic behaviors across industries and sectors, what accountability looks like in cross-sector partnership, and how sustained engagement with advocates can shape safer products, policies, and practices. Attendees explored lessons learned and opportunities ahead for potential cross-sector partnerships of their own.
RALIANCE team members Tori VandeLinde, Julia Mallory, and Halle Nelson standing with Uber’s Ebony Tucker in front of Uber’s presentation.
What Has Changed Since #MeToo? Examining National Trends in Sexual Harassment
Findings from the #MeToo Report RALIANCE supported show that reported past-year harassment more than doubled from 2018 to 2024, among both women and men, with particularly sharp increases in the U.S. South. In this session, we examined nationally representative #MeToo survey data from 2018 and 2024 to assess changes in past-year sexual harassment and assault in the United States. Participants discussed whether these trends reflect increased incidence versus increased awareness and disclosure following the #MeToo movement, and highlighted implications for policy and prevention beyond the workplace, including public and online spaces.
RALIANCE’s Director of Research and Evaluation, David Lee, co-hosted this session with Dr. Anita Raj of The Newcombe Institute at Tulane University, who conducted the study. Lee was gratified to receive feedback in real-time from the workshop attendees. “Our workshop was full of people with great interest in how we can use research data to inform our efforts to address and prevent sexual violence,” Lee said. “People from Louisiana even shared how they were able to use this data to get their efforts to get sexual assault service funding in their state! By the time it was over, we heard from several attendees that knowing about this data and will help them explore how to expand this data collection in their state.”
RALIANCE’s Director of Research and Evaluation, David Lee, and Dr. Anita Raj in front of their presentation.
Thoughts from the Team
RALIANCE’s Project Coordinator Julia Mallory hosted the “Closing the Gap” and “Future of Funding” workshops. The idea of “Closing the Gap,” Mallory, said, “was sparked by RALIANCE’s current development of our white paper on accountability and updates to our sexual violence and misconduct taxonomy. As our team planned for NSAC, we recognized that both of these tools were complementary resources for workplace accountability and we thought it would be worthwhile to have a conversation about them with our colleagues in the field.”
Mallory says that she was thrilled with the “incredible experience” of presenting at the conference and was proud of the way in which the workshop “generated meaningful conversation.” After the workshop, she expressed, “I hope that attendees will continue to amplify the work they are doing in this space. In addition, I look forward to more people utilizing the taxonomy, and the accountability white paper when it’s released.”
We are so proud of the work all our colleagues put into our track at this year’s conference, and our minds are already buzzing with new conversations to build on the groundwork we laid out in DC. We can’t wait to continue these conversations with you at next year’s conference. See you in San Francisco!
RALIANCE is a trusted adviser for organizations committed to building cultures that are safe, equitable, and respectful. RALIANCE offers unparalleled expertise in serving survivors of sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse which drives our mission to help organizations across sectors create inclusive environments for all. For more information, please visit www.RALIANCE.org.