Urgent call to action:  contact your representatives today to urge them to protect the Center, our sister organizations, and survivors of sexual and relationship violence across North Carolina by opposing SB 664!

SB 664 threatens to severely undermine services to survivors in our state by restructuring state funding to victim services agencies and establishing impractical eligibility requirements for that funding.  For example, under the new requirements, the Orange County Rape Crisis Center and the Compass Center would be ineligible for funding because Orange County does not have a domestic violence shelter.  And we are not alone.

Only 49 of North Carolina’s 100 counties currently have a shelter for survivors of domestic violence.  In fact, only 20 of our 100 counties currently meet all of the eligibility requirements set forth by SB 664.  This means that 80% of counties in North Carolina would lose state funding for victim services programs if the bill passes.  For the Center, this funding cut would mean losing 10% of our annual budget (about $50,000).  Such a loss would severely diminish our capacity to provide services and outreach in Orange County.

In addition to eliminating funding for the vast majority of counties in our state, SB 664 also prohibits service providers and state advocacy organizations such as NCCASA and NCCADV from serving on the state commission that oversees funding distribution, thereby eliminating key voices of those who work first-hand with survivors.  Furthermore, the bill would require local government counties to spend significantly more financial and human resources to ensure administrative oversight of the funding distribution.

In short, SB 664 will cut funding for 80% of counties in North Carolina, likely forcing sexual and relationship violence agencies in those counties to cut services to survivors, all while eliminating key voices from the decision making process and costing more for oversight at the county level.

Please contact members of the budget committee and your representatives today to urge them to oppose SB 664.  

Each year, we recognize individuals and organizations that have made substantial contributions to our cause of ending sexual violence. Because we did not have a ceremony in 2012, we presented awards for both 2012 and 2013 during our Gratitude Gala in April:

• The Mary Ann Chap Award for Community Service was presented to El Centro Hispano, Stephanie Willis of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, and Megan & Gary Crunkleton.
• The Margaret Henderson Award for Service & Self-Care was presented to Brendan Moylan of Sports Endeavors, Inc.
• The Margaret Barrett Award for Advocacy was presented to La Conexión and Kim Grooms of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA.

As a thank you for all the work they’ve done to further our cause, we’d like to share the speeches that staff members gave recognizing each recipient’s contributions.

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Did you know that today in North Carolina, children who are victims of human trafficking can be prosecuted?  It’s true.  In our state, the commercial sexual exploitation of children is legally viewed in many cases as prostitution, a crime committed by the minor in question rather than against him or her. 

The US Department of Justice estimates that the most frequent age of entry into the commercial sex industry in the United States is 12-14 years.  And what’s more, GEMS reports that 70-90% of commercially sexually exploited children have a history of child sexual abuse.  Current practice is to treat these already vulnerable and traumatized children as criminals — despite the fact that they are not choosing prostitution themselves but are being forced or coerced into it (i.e. trafficked) by their pimps/boyfriends.  But, as of this week, change is on the horizon!

A bill was filed in the State House today that would finally eliminate criminal prosecution of prostituted minors.  HB 825 provides that a “minor shall not be prosecuted for the offense of prostitution and if detained for that offense shall be subject to temporary protective custody as provided by the state juvenile laws.”

If it passes, this legislation would not only eliminate criminal penalties for sexually exploited minors but would also make provisions for those minors to be taken into protective custody and connected with support services.  HB 825 would work in tandem with HB 855, HB 221, and other similar bills to increase criminal penalties for traffickers and enhance services for trafficking victims.  Given North Carolina’s unenviable distinction as being among the top eight states for human trafficking in the US, this kind of supportive legislation is desperately needed.

Please contact your state representatives today to communicate your support for HB 825 and other anti-trafficking legislation. Being a victim of sexual violence shouldn’t be a criminal offense.

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Joey Honeycutt is our Crisis Response Coordinator. She works with our volunteer Companions to provide support services to survivors of sexual violence in our community.

In 2001, April was first declared Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). The goal of SAAM is to raise public awareness about sexual violence and to educate communities and individuals on how to prevent sexual violence. Sexual assault is defined by the Department of Justice as “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.” Read below to learn more about sexual assault, what you can do to prevent it, and how the Center can help. 

The Facts

• Nearly 1 in 5 women have been raped at some time in their lives. About every 2 minutes, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted.
• More than 1 in 3 women and more than 1 in 4 men have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
• Approximately 80% of female victims experienced their first rape before the age of 25.
• It is impossible to “ask” to be assaulted, and it is never the survivor’s fault. Only 2-8% of reports are false, which is a comparable rate to false reports of other crimes.

Impact on Victims

Each survivor reacts to sexual assault in different ways. Some may tell others right away what happened, while others will wait weeks, months, or even years before discussing their assault. Sexual assault takes a high psychological and physical toll on victims. Victims may experience nightmares, flashbacks, depression, difficulty concentrating, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, and eating disorders. In addition, sexual assault can cause changes in eating or sleeping patterns, physical injury, increased startle response, and concerns about pregnancy or contracting an STI or HIV. Further, victims often experience guilt, embarrassment, denial, and self blame.

What You Can Do

Get involved! Educate yourself about the issue.  Talk to your friends about healthy relationships, and be a supportive listener to those affected by sexual assault. Replace victim-blaming statements with statements of support. Challenge rape myths and stereotypes, and speak up when you hear sexist language or someone downplaying the severity of sexual assault. Request our Community Educators to present a program for adults to your PTA, book club, social club, church group, or office. Talk to your children about safe touches and preventing violence. Request our Community Educators to present a program to your kids’ daycare, youth group, or sports team. Support the Center by donating and coming to our events. Volunteer as a Companion, Community Educator, Support Group Facilitator, and more. Host a fundraiser for the Center. And finally, Paint the Town Teal for Sexual Assault Awareness Month!

How the Center Can Help

The Orange County Rape Crisis Center is always available to support victims of sexual assault. All services are free, confidential, and available in both English and Spanish. Our 24-Hour Help Line provides support to survivors and their loved ones 24 hours a day, every day of the year. In addition, the Center offers support groups and therapy referrals. If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, contact our 24-Hour Help Line at 1-866-WE LISTEN or 919-967-7273.

Back in January, Programs Director Laurie Graham contributed a blog post about human trafficking in honor of Human Trafficking Awareness Month. While the official month of awareness may be over, the reality of human trafficking is not.

In February, actress Anne Hathaway won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Fantine in Les Miserables. In the story, Fantine is a single mother forced by economic necessity into prostitution. In interviews promoting the film, Hathaway spoke frequently of finding inspiration for the role by researching the reality of modern-day sex slavery. As she told Word & Film’s Tony Phillips, “[…] I came to the realization that I had been thinking about Fantine as someone who lived in the past – but she doesn’t. She’s living in New York City right now. She’s probably less than a block away.” Hathaway’s words, and her portrayal of Fantine, speak not only to the reality of contemporary human trafficking, but also to its insidious presence right in all of our own backyards. In fact, North Carolina ranks among the top 8 states for human trafficking in the United States.

Human trafficking is often misunderstood as an issue that exclusively impacts foreign nationals. While international trafficking and trafficking of foreign nationals is undeniably a huge issue, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Trafficking victims are very often U.S. citizens who are forced into sex slavery by economic necessity, abusive home situations, or any number of other circumstances. In order for a situation to be legally classified as “human trafficking,” it does not need to involve movement across borders, smuggling, or movement of any kind. Rather, human trafficking is defined as any commercial exchange of sex or labor that involves force, fraud, or coercion (though in the case of sex trafficking of minors, force, fraud, and coercion are not necessary). This definition includes pimp-controlled prostitution.

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The winner of the Love Your Body campaign’s 2012 poster contest.

On a daily basis we are inundated with media messages that make not-so-subtle suggestions on how we should live our lives: how we should look, what we should eat, who we should surround ourselves with, and more. More often than not, these messages are harmful by promoting unattainable standards. And if they are harmful for adults, can you imagine what the effects these messages have on our youth, especially young girls?

Here at the Center, we believe in helping young girls foster a healthy and positive sexual identity because in doing so, they are empowered to expect and demand relationships free from coercion, disrespect, and violence. But, in order to encourage this, we need to help our girls build resilience against harmful media messages that promote the objectification and sexualization of young girls.

It is no easy task to just ignore the media and all the pressures that come with it. But if we want our society to change, and if we want our girls to believe they are wonderful just as they are, then we need to provide women and girls with skills to recognize and reject harmful media messages.

About-Face and the NOW Foundation’s Love Your Body campaign provide great ways to tackle harmful media consumption. Here are a few of my personal favorites:

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Over the past two months, members of our community have been disheartened to read about the allegations surrounding the handling of sexual assault cases at UNC. In the wake of the 2011 Title IX Dear Colleague Letter, we have watched similar media stories about universities across the nation, but as with anything, it is often more difficult to reconcile challenges that are close to home. In the coming months there may be more publicity, more questions, and possibly even more disappointment, but there is also the opportunity for a strategic community response to sexual violence.

On a daily basis, our staff and volunteers witness the courage of survivors who share the devastation that sexual violence has had on their lives. While survivors come to the Center seeking help in their recovery process, they come first and foremost baring their deepest secrets to someone who will believe them. Disclosure can take a tremendous amount of courage for anyone, and for our community’s college students, we find that they are doubly fearful of being excluded from what equates to a new sense of family. Statistics show that most violent crimes, including rape and sexual assault, are committed by someone the victim knows. Students often have to worry about how their friends and acquaintances will react if they disclose assault perpetrated by someone within their social circle.

And while disclosing an assault aids in a survivor’s acknowledgment that a crime has been committed, survivors also need compassion from family, friends, and their larger community to support prosecution of these crimes. When survivors are fearful that they will not be believed, they often do not come forward. Low numbers of reported cases create a false sense of safety in our community, assailants rarely face criminal charges, and survivors struggle in silence with the trauma of their assault.

While conversations about what is happening on campus may ultimately prove to be very difficult, these discussions will also allow us to improve our support for survivors, to prevent sexual assault, and to protect the most vulnerable in our community. As we look ahead, we find ourselves searching for answers, providing support and encouragement to survivors afraid of coming forward, and advocating for system changes to best aid survivors.

This was originally published in the Winter 2013 edition of The Center Line, our quarterly electronic newsletter.

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Shamecca Q. Bryant is our Executive Director and has been with the Center since 2007. She also serves on the board of directors for the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault. 

At the start of 2013, staff at the Center fielded many questions about potential repercussions when the 112th Congress did not reauthorize VAWA. Just one month later, we find the 113th Congress committed to action. Last week, Senate Bill 47 passed to reauthorize the landmark Violence Against Women Act sponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Michael Crapo (R-ID). And now, this bill is once again in the hands of the House of Representatives.

The Senate-approved bill is very similar to the bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Leahy and Crapo last Congress and would improve VAWA programs and strengthen protections for all victims of violence. It includes many important improvements, such as addressing the criminal justice response to sexual assault, domestic violence homicides, housing needs, and campus victimization, all of which were included in legislation last year.

The current Senate bill also includes enhanced protections for tribal, LGBT, and immigrant victims. These extra provisions were identified as critical priorities by advocates across the country and received bipartisan support both last year and this year in the Senate.

Additionally, the SAFER Act, another provision to help improve VAWA, was added and passed unanimously in the Senate late last year. The SAFER Act promotes the elimination of rape kit backlogs which would then be used to help prosecute offenders and solve cold cases.

Although many provisions were included in this year’s bill, one provision from last year was removed. This provision would have increased the number of U-Visas available to immigrant victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and certain other violent crimes. In the 2012 version of VAWA, this provision led to an objection from House leaders. In the interest of obtaining reauthorization and avoiding technical obstacles, the Senate excluded this provision in the new VAWA bill.

As House leaders decide whether they will create their own bill, all of us can make sure the conversation continues. Make sure the House hears your voice and that VAWA is passed. Visit www.4vawa.org for fact sheets, press coverage, support letters, and updates.

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“Why were you drinking?”
“What were you wearing?”
“Why did you leave with him?”
“How come you don’t have any bruises?”
“Didn’t you know what would happen?”

These are some of the questions that are commonly asked of survivors seeking help after a sexual assault. And while there are many reasons that someone may not want to report an assault, victim-blaming questions such as those are one of the main factors that prevent survivors from coming forward.

The repercussions of speaking out can be traumatic. Victim-blaming, public shaming and humiliation, fear of retaliation from one’s attacker, and not being believed are some of the many reasons why survivors do not report their assault to the police or seek help from friends and family members.

Additionally, statistics have shown that most assaults occur between people who know each other, raising a whole new set of concerns. The survivor may care for their attacker and not want to get them in trouble. They may fear being ostracized by their social group if they accuse a friend of rape. Friends not wishing to have “drama” in the group may ignore or write off an assault, leaving the survivor without any support.

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Sometimes I feel like my job is just too much fun. I get to spend a lot of time visiting the hallways of adolescence and hanging out with teenagers, talking about one of their (and my) favorite topics of conversation: flirting. And I learn new things every day. Like when I asked 200 seventh graders to describe what it feels like to be flirted with. Best answer? TWINKLY.

Teenagers are awesome. If you ask the right questions, they have a wealth of wisdom about what healthy sexuality and healthy relationships look like. This is honestly amazing considering the images of sex and relationships that have saturated the media they’ve grown up consuming. But these negative messages in the media still take their toll. It’s important to remember that while they may know the right answers when they are asked in the classroom, as many as 1 in 3 teens experience dating violence. The reality of teen dating violence in America reflects a need for more questions, more conversations, and more awareness.

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, and here’s what you can do this month to help us end a national epidemic:

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