Our Mission
We engage individuals and organizations in local and statewide collaborations to strengthen the effectiveness of sexual violence education, prevention, and response in Utah.

Our Vision
Our efforts will advance a society in which sexual violence is not tolerated.

Our History
The Coalition of Advocates for Utah Survivors’ Empowerment (CAUSE) was founded in 1996 by a group of people with a vision of uniting Utahns to end sexual violence. The founding goals were to increase support, resources, and services for survivors of sexual assault.

As our coalition grew, our goals evolved, and robust prevention efforts were added to our vision. CAUSE became the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault in 2001. Since that time, another organization was formed as part of the coalition: Utahns Care About Sexual Assault

Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault focuses on education designed to empower and activate people in the political process. This organization is recognized by the IRS under section 501c3.

Utahans Care About Sexual Assault drafts legislation and coordinates lobby efforts to ensure its passage. This organization is recognized by the IRS under section 501c4.

These two organizations share a single mission and vision, to end sexual assault in Utah. Together, we support survivors and work to prevent sexual assault in all forms.

Who We Are

We started in 1996 when people from across the state came together to end sexual assault. We began a partnership with state agencies and service providers that lasts to this day. Together, we support survivors and work to prevent sexual assault in all forms.

Our work requires a commitment to accessibility. That means no survivors are ever forgotten. Our early work focused on passing laws to protect the privacy of survivors. After implementing the state's confidentiality law, we created our training program for advocates. Training has remained a central part of what we do since 1998.

Collaboration has defined our work since the beginning. Survivors have more services and resources than ever because of these collaborative efforts. Services and resources for survivors continue to grow and expand. The Utah Sexual Violence Council has enhanced our statewide efforts since 2003.

We put survivors first. Always seeking ways the empowerment of survivors. Outreach and community education efforts are a signature part of our work. We want Utahns to know survivors’ stories and join our movement.

We strive to include as many people in our work as possible by building a community of support. We work hard to bring integrity to our work through our committees and councils.

These include:

• Men's Anti-Violence Network (Founded 2001)
• Start by Believing Utah (Founded 2015)
• Young Emerging Leaders Council (Founded 2017)
• LGBTQ Coordinating Council (Founded 2017)

• Accessibility: To achieve a world without sexual violence, it is critical to effectively engage people of all abilities, genders, religions, nationalities, ethnicities, races, etc. We are dedicated to accommodating all who will engage with us.  We constantly seek to improve the accessibility of our messaging and programs and to boldly advocate for all survivors.
• Empowerment: Injustice is the root cause of sexual violence and we are committed to ending it in all of its forms. We seek therefore to eliminate the conditions that cause sexual violence is critical work in preventing rape and sexual assault.
• Integrity: We strive to ensure that all organizational policies and practices reflect transparency, responsibility, and integrity. We also believe that ethical communication is critical to achieving our mission. Everyone has a role and a responsibility to assist in eliminating sexual violence.
• Justice: All those affected by sexual violence have the right to receive compassionate, culturally relevant, and accessible services with dignity, privacy, and respect. Justice means fundamentally that we seek to heal the damage created by sexual violence.
• Progress: In order to end sexual violence, we must engage all people in our efforts. Changing social norms and challenging harmful attitudes and behaviors are essential to our work. We understand that progress is built on consistency, strategy, and inclusion and we acknowledge that incremental progress is still progress.
• Safety: All people have the right to be safe from sexual violence. We reject systems that seek to deny anyone this safety. We know that the healing of survivors will also result in the healing of society.

For us, eliminating sexual violence is more than our mission, it is a passionate cause for the people who make our organization successful. We're committed to creating a society free from sexual violence and our programming is a reflection of that vision. Our technical assistance, training and other programs are designed to transform our communities and eliminate sexual violence in all of its forms. We appreciate you using our website to learn about our programs but don't ever hesitate to contact us directly if you need any additional information.

**Updated as of 09/03/2020**