Age or gender does not matter. A victim of sexual assault usually keeps quiet, hides, feels fear, and sometimes shame, say activists.
Despite the efforts of thousands of organizations throughout the country, campaigns of information to report a violation and receive help, have not been enough for the victims; while the coronavirus pandemic reversed the progress that had been made for those affected by sexual abuse and domestic violence.
“It is very difficult for them to talk about it immediately, although much depends on the circumstances and the person, in most cases, they shut him up”, explains Giovanna Martínez, supervisor of the victim services programs of the Human Services Association (HSA), founded for more than 80 years in Bell Gardens.
“There is a lot of burden and pain in the victim, because they not only think about the abuse, but also about the family, especially if the abuser is part of it, because there are usually threats,” explains Martínez.
The difficulty of reporting a sexual crime is aggravated if the victim is a man or from the LGBTQ community. For them, the complexity of exposing that they were sexually assaulted is greater.
“Since it is not common, the first thing they face is the lack of credibility, as was and is the case with some women”, emphasizes Martínez.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), 91% of Victims of rape and other sexual assaults in this country are women and 9% are men.
In his explanation, he argues that the first thing is to question whether a man could have been the sexual victim of a women. “They are threatened with arguments like: nobody is going to believe you because how is a man going to be sexually assaulted by a woman? There are also women who attack and manipulate.”
In the case of LGBTQ people, the threat is similar and even more so, they live with social stigma.
“They raped you because you are gay, lesbian or because you dress in one way or another, but that should not be a reason for any of aggression,” says Martínez, who has more than two decades of experience working with victims of violence.
Denim Day
The way of dressing, walking, speaking, among other arguments should not be the excuse for anyone to suffer an aggression of any kind.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. On the last Wednesday of the month in California, as in many other states and countries, Denim Day or Denim Day is celebrated, in which everyone is encouraged to wear blue jeans as a symbol of protest against sexual assault.
It emerged in Italy when justice released a man who raped a young woman from 18 years in 1992. The defendant appealed the sentence, arguing that it was a consensual act because his victim collaborated to take off the tight pants he was wearing and the Supreme Court agreed with him.
In protest, the women of the Italian Parliament used jeans to go to work and that action became an international movement.
In Los Angeles, the president of the City Council of the City Council, Nury Martínez and the councilors Nithya Raman and Mónica Rodríguez, last Wednesday dressed of jeans in solidarity with survivors of sexual assault.
According to the NSVRC, in the United States, one in three women and one in six men experience some form of sexual violence during their lives.
Martínez stated: “we are with the women who have been told over and over again: you were looking for that because of the way they dress or even because some people believe they were flirting”.
While Rodríguez stressed that “this city is a group that has the responsibility to provide a safe space to house these victims and protect them from enduring more violence and (sexual) assault that so often ends up impeding their ability to live a happy life.”
The call to den Advocating both legal and emotional help was made by Michelle, a survivor who used that name to protect her identity. She was sexually abused at the age of six by her mother’s boyfriend, a violation that she continued until she was . She confessed her situation to a teacher and she reported the case to the police.
At the time, Michelle refused to talk to the police. It wasn’t until he was 80 years old that he decided to tell about the abuse and report his case to the authorities.
Of all the types of violence that are dealt with in the HSA organization, Martínez assures that cases of rape are the most difficult to overcome.
“It is the worst thing that can happen, because a person loses power and control of his will. It is a deep damage. It is very difficult for the victim to make the decision to expose it and report it”.
Guadalupe Juárez, two months ago left her job at the Bell Gardens Police Department, now she is a counselor at HSA, says that Much progress has been made in treating victims and there is good coordination between authorities and organizations that support victims of all types of violence.
However, he assures that it is rare for a victim of sexual assault to go directly to a police department to file a complaint. They almost always do it through some organization or institution.
“During the time I was in the police department I never had to deal with a report of sexual violence,” explains Juárez, who said that it happened the pandemic working for the police.
Ghost statistics
Until a few weeks ago, the organizations resumed face-to-face activities. During the coronavirus pandemic, help for victims was virtual or by phone. Challenges that counselors and victims had to overcome.
“We did not receive new complaints and in many cases it was impossible to continue with therapy, because the aggressor was at home”, explains Martínez.
During the two years of the pandemic, the numbers of cases of sexual and domestic abuse stopped. They are phantom statistics.
“Right now there are no clear numbers on how many attacks there were. The victims isolated themselves. The schools that are our main source of complaints were closed and now they have returned but not all of them, we are still in that readjustment”, he adds.
The situation of child victims of sexual abuse is also a situation complicated, since last year in that HSA division, they serve 15 under 18 years.
“Perhaps in about three years, we will be able to have real statistics of those victims who were behind those closed doors, they are just beginning to come out”, emphasizes Martínez.
Luz María Ruiz, is a volunteer in the organization Expediente Rojo and a survivor of domestic violence, assures that carrying preventive information was not easy for them.
“The face-to-face forums are where they often lose their fear of saying what is happening to them, because they listen to other victims and take courage. We provide them with the information or channel them so that they receive help”, he explains.
“It is difficult to report sexual violence, it takes time”.
The organizations, together with the authorities, have created a support network, but even so, many victims find it difficult to report, what is the reason?
Martínez answers: education.
“At home with our children we have to have these conversations. Tell our girls and boys that they have a safe place to tell what happens to them. That there are situations that are not normal and that they are not afraid to speak up if someone threatens them”, he states.
Victims of sexual violence, Above all, in most cases, they do not file a complaint because their aggressor threatens to kill a family member, they plant the idea that they will not be believed or even because of their legal status in this country, they are afraid to go to the police.
Patricia Giggans, executive director of Peace over Violence, the organization that implemented Denim Day, encouraged survivors who have not dared to speak out to seek help.
“No one should go through the trauma of any kind of violence alone. If you are a survivor and you are hearing this, please reach out, there are advocates, there are people who will help you heal”, he assured.
Support organizations:
Peace over Violence
Attention 24/7
213-626- 3393 The Angels
626-793-3385 San Gabriel Valley
392-392-8381 South Los Angeles
peaceoverviolence.org
Human Services Association (HSA)
www.hsala.org/
Red File
www.expedienterojo.org
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