Advocacy~Speaking to Victims

I have moved back to school, and am currently working as a Victim's Advocate at a Crisis Center, and yesterday I was privileged to be able to have a few hours to go serve there. I was helping to decorate some windows, and then my boss called me over and handed me a stack of files and asked me to do follow-ups. Follow ups with clients means that you go through their file, read all the history, incident reports, protection orders, etc. and then call the victim and ask how things are going, and then offer the services that they might need from us (ie: diapers, food, counseling, court advocacy, etc). I sat down and started reading. Some files had just one report, others had inches of reports from years past til now. Some were young, some were old, some were married for years, some had been dating a couple weeks. Some successfully left, some have since returned to the predator. Some had several children, some had none.

All of these women were very different in many ways, but they had a common theme: all had been through hell itself at the hands of someone else, often someone dear to them, and all wanted someone to express care and concern for them. I got to talk to several victims yesterday, and it was an eye-opening situation for me as I talked to one woman in particular. Her juvenile daughter had been raped, and I was asking how the trial was going, and if they would want an advocate to accompany them for support through the trial, and especially as the victim would be taking the stand to testify. The mother sounded surprised at my offer, and instantly expressed gratitude, and said they would really appreciate that. That was a warm fuzzy for the day. That's my job! I am here to help, no judgment, no criticism, no matter your decision I'm here, it's an unconditional love for those I serve.

Never have I been more aware of the blessings in my life as I read through those files. Sometimes as advocates and professionals we appear very calm, very put together, almost to the point of insensitivity about the suffering. Now that I have been on call and experienced this first-hand, I can say from experience that the tears are just below the surface, that my first instinct after hearing their stories is to grab them in a hug, that as I hear details from a woman sobbing on her couch with her house, and life, in shambles around her, that I feel the same overwhelming feeling! This week I was able to feel my frailties and weaknesses, but also recognize that I can contribute help to these women. I'm loving my job. :) Count your blessings this week~if you aren't in a situation like I've described, get down on your knees and say thank you. If you are, know there is help, and there are people around you that are anxious to help you!