MANDATE SUMMARY:

The Office of SHARP is a San Francisco City department under the direction and oversight of the Human Rights Commission.  SHARP collaborates with City departments, law enforcement agencies, and community organizations to ensure that local government services are accountable and responsive to the needs of survivors of sexual violence. Specifically, the Office of SHARP is charged with the following duties:

  1. Work with survivors to remedy the way any City department has negatively responded or failed to respond to their complaint;

  2. Engaging with City departments and law enforcement agencies on prompt and thorough response to sexual violence allegations;

  3. Collaborating with community stakeholders on preventing sexual violence and improving the City’s response to sexual violence in a way that ensures dignity, trust, safety and professionalism for survivors.

SHARP IS MANDATED BY LEGISLATION
FROM THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO:

  1. Receive complaints from survivors of sexual assault and harassment concerning the manner in which City departments have responded or failed to respond to allegations of sexual assault or sexual harassment.

  2. Assist survivors in navigating City government to resolve complaints about City department’s response to allegations of sexual assault or sexual harassment.

  3. Compel the attendance of City officers or employees to meet with claimants.

  4.  Notify City departments their failure to perform a duty or to respond reasonably to the claimant’s or SHARP’s requests.

  5. Report to the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors if any City department fails to take timely and adequate corrective action after receiving notification from the SHARP office.

  6. Refer City officers and employees for discipline, when appropriate.

  7. Require City departments to report information about how a department handles allegations of sexual assault and harassment.

  8. Work with community stakeholders to develop recommendations for improving the City’s work to end sexuall assault and harassment, and making the recommendations to City policymakers.

 RESPONSE > COLLECTION > ACTION

RESPONDING TO COMPLAINTS

  • Listening to the experiences of survivor complainants regarding city services (police, district attorney, hospital, etc.).

  • Assisting survivor complainants in navigating city agencies to resolve the complaint. 

  • Notifying city departments of failure to perform duties in connection to a complaint form a sexual assault survivor.

  • Requiring city officers or employees to meet with survivor complainants.

COLLECTING INFORMATION

  • Holding community town halls and focus groups to listen to the experiences of survivors.

  • Collecting city agency’s policy and procedure for handling allegations of sexual assault.

  • Tracking response data of city agencies services for sexual assault survivors.

ACTION

  • Create policy priorities based on complaints and community stories.

  • Assess holistic response to sexual assault in city government and in supporting community efforts.