Karla Vierthaler is the Advocacy and Resource Director at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, a division of Respect Together. She supports the provision of training, technical assistance and resources to the nation on a wide range of sexual violence prevention and intervention topics. Karla’s team has lead the Working with Male Survivors of Sexual Violence Project since its inception in 2006.Through this project, she has been able to connect her experience around sexual violence prevention and services to ensuring these tools accommodate men. Karla has also led projects around sexual violence and housing, language access, community health centers, and inclusivity for all survivors.
Prior to this role, she was the Outreach Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect (PCAR), also a division of Respect Together. In this role, Karla was responsible for curriculum development, coordination and completion of training programs, technical assistance and the creation of written materials for a variety of audiences. She worked on projects addressing sexual violence in populations historically under and unserved by the anti-sexual violence movement, with a focus on people with disabilities, mental health and substance use issues. Karla’s role also focused on promotion of D.E.I. work with Pennsylvania’s Rape Crisis Centers, which included a Business Plan for Organizational Cultural Competence in 2009 and ongoing training for new directors and PCAR’s Board of Director’s. She was hired at PCAR in 2003 to lead the creation and implementation of curriculum and technical assistance materials to cross train sexual violence advocates and aging protective service workers on detection, legal aspects and service provision for survivors of sexual abuse in later life.
In 2012, Karla began working with the PA Department of Corrections (PA DOC) when the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Standards were released. She served on a committee to help the PA DOC implement the standards, review PREA reports from state prisons, and assisted PA rape crisis centers to understand their role in working with survivors who are incarcerated in their communities. In 2014, Karla became a Department of Justice PREA Auditor, where she audited correctional facilities to ensure PREA compliance.
Karla lives in Camp Hill, PA, has a wonderful partner, two children, age 13 and 10, and three dogs who all keep her life busy and happy. She is an avid reader, lover of indoor and outdoor plants, and committed to secondhand shopping/giving whenever possible. Karla recognizes her great privilege and is committed to continued education and action to make to make the world a better place.
Karla holds Bachelors of Science in Journalism and a Minor in Women’s Studies from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. She has a Masters in Public Administration with a discipline in Gerontology from Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA. She began her work in the anti-sexual violence movement as a sexual assault advocate in 1997.