Sabrina Garcia, the
Chapel Hill Police Department’s domestic violence and sexual
assault specialist, offered to take the audience on a journey to
give them a better understanding of the issue of sexual violence
during her presentation “Open Your Eyes to the Reality of Rape.”
“Tonight’s presentation is to get you
to think,” said Garcia, who spoke Wednesday night in Farthing
Auditorium.
Garcia has worked in the field of sexual assault
for 23 years and has worked with both victims and offenders.
“It’s not just the assault alone that is injurious, it’s
the betrayal attached to the trust,” said Garcia.
“It’s extremely baffling how easy it is to be sexually
assaulted,” said Lauren L. Kerr, a sophomore political science
major from Robbinsville who attended Garcia’s presentation.
“It wasn’t just the rape that was the most difficult to
believe, but how someone I had known and trusted deceived me to
the point of doubting myself and what he did to me,” said a
rape survivor.
Many of these offenders actually begin with simple acts like an
obscene letter or phone call and work their way up, said Garcia.
“A person doesn’t just decide one day to rape, they practice.
They practice at this thing called control, they practice at this
thing called power,” said Garcia.
Garcia said control is what sexual crimes are all about, adding
that these types of crimes are built upon imagination. Offenders
imagine their victims enjoy their obscene letters or sexual advances.
Garcia said sexual offenders could easily look up a potential victim’s
phone number and address in the phone book. These offenders enjoy
the control they feel they have over their victim.
“This is not about sexual gratification,” said Garcia.
“I cannot get over how someone can make you so insecure and
not even touch you or be around you, just by calling you,”
said Kerr.
Even without touching their victims, offenders can disorganize the
victim’s life. These “hands off crimes” are a form
of control, said Garcia.
“Perpetrators have told me that they only need two things to
actually be able to commit their offenses; they need accessibility
and vulnerability,” said Garcia.
Some contributors to a victim’s accessibility and vulnerability
include: drinking to get drunk, combining drugs and alcohol, isolation,
social activities where forceful sexual advances are expected and/or
supported, previous victimization and a lack of enforced consequences,
among others, said Garcia.
“[Alcohol] is probably the most used rape facilitated drug
I know,” said Garcia.
“Alcohol is intentionally used, because it lowers inhibitions.”
The most difficult cases to prove are those committed by someone
the victim knows, said Garcia.
After being assaulted, many victims are not sure if that is what
really happened to them or not. These victims then ask family members
or friends for help, and by not reporting the behavior,”we
give a platform to offenders to be able to almost gain that permission
to continue the behavior,” said Garcia.
Garcia said reporting the crime, no matter what information the
victim has, is very important. She said there are many different
types of sexual assaults, not just rape and that both men and women
can commit sexual offenses.
“The best, most effective tool I know in combating this violence
is trusting your gut,” said Garcia.
In order to further aid in the defense against sexual violence,
or any violence, the University Police offer Rape Aggression Defense
(R.A.D.) classes for women.
The University Police Department’s Sergeant of Crime Prevention
Dee Dee Rominger said this self-defense course is a 12-hour program.
“It is a basic self-defense class,” said Rominger.
The program is offered three times throughout the fall 2002 semester,
and it includes four evening sessions that are three hours long.
The cost of the class is $10. This fee includes a manual, a T-shirt,
and a lifetime return and practice policy.
Rominger said this type of class “lets you know your strengths
and weaknesses.”
The University Counseling and Psychological Services Center offers
counseling for victims of sexual assault or rape. The center is
located on the first floor of the Miles Annas Student Services Building.
An emergency call-in system is available with a counselor on call
24 hours a day, said Rafael S. Harris Jr., a psychologist at the
Counseling Center.
“The business that we’re in is therapy, [assault victims]
can come and see someone for therapy,” said Harris. “If
they want to pursue pressing charges we would support that and help
them through community resources.”
Several of the 15 mental health professionals that work out of the
Counseling Center also work to prevent this type of crime. Harris
is a co-advisor, along with his colleague Chris Hogan, for Men Against
Rape, a new organization.
“The idea is that we don’t just do treatment here, but
we are also in prevention programs,” said Harris.
The Counseling Center has walk-in hours Monday through Thursday
from 1 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Fridays from 1 p.m. until 3:30 p.m.
For appointments at the Counseling Center, call 262-3180.
The Counseling Center’s emergency call-in system can be accessed
by calling the University Police at 262-2150.
For more information on RAD classes, contact Sgt. Rominger at 262-2150,
or send e-mail to romingerjh@appstate.edu. |
