(UWIRE) Many people fear it is lurking in the next alley, around the next corner, in the next shadow or within the next blind date, and yet rape is one of the most underreported crimes, according to the Rape, Abuse ‘ Incest National Network (RAINN).
According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report for 2006, there were an estimated 92,455 reported cases of rape in the United States that year.
During 2006, for every 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 31 people reported an incident of rape, according to the FBI report.
To deal with these issues, rape crisis centers serve as a vital community resource for those who have been sexually assaulted.
“Our role is to simply be there for the victim,” said Beth Maeker, community educator and volunteer coordinator at a Lubbock, Texas, center. “We believe in them. We support them. If they say it happened, it happened. We don’t question their story. We don’t interview or talk to the alleged assailant. Our role is to simply be there for him or her.”
Her center works closely with local law enforcement, she said, and is the only rape crisis center in Texas that has the authority to transport evidence during investigations. The center’s employees and volunteers are the only ones allowed to accompany victims when they make their first testimony to the police.
Victims are not the only group to call the center after an assault, Maeker said. Calls also come from police, medical professionals or friends and family of the victims.
Once a call is made to the center’s hot line, Maeker said, a volunteer responds usually within 30 minutes and begins consoling the victim and steering him or her toward the proper avenues of action, depending on how long it has been since the assault.
For incidents that occurred within the prior 96 hours, volunteer advocates will take the victim to the hospital and remain with them through an examination conducted by a sexual assault nurse examiner, a nurse who spe-cifically has been trained to work with victims of rape in the aftermath of an assault, Maeker said.
A team of medical professionals, law enforcement personnel and social workers collectively provide the best help for victims, said Carrie Edwards, a sexual assault nurse examiner with Texas Tech’s Health Sciences Center.
Despite the presence of an advocate, Maeker said, victims are not required to file charges with police, although the center’s volunteers gently encourage them to do so.
Of the 182 cases of sexual assault reported to the center between Jan. 1, 2007, and Sept. 15, 2007, 75 cases were filed with police, which represents approximately 41 percent of total assaults.
Because of social stigmas associated with sexual assault, Edwards said, few victims feel comfortable coming forward.
Victims often blame themselves for the assault, she said, or they are afraid that people will question their character if word got out that they were raped.
“Most victims want to just go to bed, throw the covers over their head, forget that it happened,” Edwards said. “A lot of them just want to wash their sheets. They just want to wash their clothes, take a shower and try to forget about it, but it is important that they come in and seek medical attention so we can make sure they are OK.”
Karen Amacker, communications and marketing director of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, said the healing process truly cannot commence for victims until they address the assault and look for help from professionals, whether they be in law enforcement or medicine.
Speaking openly about the assault rarely is easy for victims, she said, but doing so is the first step toward recovery and healing.
“While it is important and helpful to the community to make sure these cases are reported to law enforcement, at the same time, it’s also important that the victim take care of themselves,” Amacker said. “More than anything, that usually means talking to somebody about it.”
The most important thing to keep in mind, Lewis said, is that victims of sexual assault are never to blame, regardless of risk factors and the victim’s relationship to the perpetrator, even if alcohol was involved. Once victims recognize they are in no way responsible, they often find it easier to move forward with the healing process.
“We don’t like victim-blaming, or to look at the victim to eventually be responsible for the rape because she didn’t keep herself safe or something like that,” she said. “You can do risk reduction, but, in the end, the only person responsible for the rape is the perpetrator.”
“[Women] have a right to go on dates. They have a right to drink. They have a right to go out and have a good time. People even have a right, I believe, to be foolish and to make mistakes without being attacked.”
April Arevalo, a volunteer at Lubbock Rape Crisis Center, said she spent four hours a day for two weeks training in preparation for working as a center volunteer. Compensation for her services is unnecessary, Arevalo said, because she is rewarded in other ways.
“It’s really rewarding when you see the victims afterwards and they thank you and they say they couldn’t have done it without you,” she said. “It’s really comforting to know that you were able to help other people who are in a very vulnerable position and when their families probably wouldn’t understand.”