Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault providing services to Logan County adults, children and parents

 

[June 23, 2018] 

LINCOLN 

On Thursday, June 14th, the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital Community Health Collaborative (CHC) hosted a meeting at the hospital. The purpose of the one hour event was to review the work that is currently underway with the different committees within the collaborative.

The day began with a guest speaker, Jody Clark from the Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault. Clark is an adult/child therapist who works exclusively with victims of sexual assault including rape, incest, sodomy, attempted rape and sexual touches.

Clark was introduced by Community Health Collaborative Director Angela Stoltzenburg, who said that the information about the center was new to her, though Clark said that the center is not a new organization and it has been providing services in Logan County for a while.

Clark explained that the center serves eleven counties with three regional offices in central Illinois. Logan County is coupled with Christian County and clientele are served by her office in Taylorville.

Clark said that the center works with adult survivors, and has recently returned to providing services for children ages three and up. She explained that initially state budget cuts impacted their ability to serve younger clients. There are also more organizations working with child victims than with adults. The center felt that maintaining the adult services was the best way that they could have a positive impact.

Clark said now state funding has changed again, and the center is able to offer services to children on a case-by-case basis.

Clark defined the center as a “healing agency” saying that they are not investigative. No one from the center will interrogate victims, nor will they offer investigation into alleged cases of sexual assault. The goal of the agency is to assist the victim in recovering from the trauma of the assault and also to offer medical and legal advocacy.

She said that all the services provided are free of charge. They work only with victims, not with perpetrators.

Clark summarized some of the programs offered through Prairie Center:

Medical advocacy

When a victim arrives at the hospital, they may request that the center be called. Once that call comes to the center, advocates have one hour to respond. They go to the hospital to be with the victim and to guide them through the process. She said that victims need to be assured that all their rights are being met, that they are receiving the treatment and services they need.

Legal Advocacy

The legal advocate is a professional advocate who will go to court with the victim to assure that they are not going through the process alone. The legal advocates work with the states attorneys’ and the city and/or county police departments. The advocates will be the ones who call the local officials to receive updates on the case, and then will share that information with the victim. She said this is a better way to go about getting updates, because when victims call, they don’t know what to ask or how to get the information they need. They are often given vague answers such as “there is a continuance.” That doesn’t really tell the victim what is going on. The legal advocates are trained to pull more information out of the attorney so that the victim can then understand why there was a continuance and what impact that will have on them personally.

In addition, the legal advocates can assist the victims in getting orders of protection. She went on to explain that there are two types of protection orders and victims don’t always know this. The Order of Protection is specifically for victims who are in a relationship with their assailant. For this situation “relationship” can mean a relative, a date or a companion.

While there are cases that do involve family members or partners, often there are cases where the assailant is not known to the victim on a personal level, there is no past relationship or familial connection. In those cases a Civil No Contact Order should be requested. The advocates will assist the victims in determining what type of order is needed and will assist in getting that order.

Hot Line

The center has a 24/7 hotline number 217-753-8081. This is a great resource for victims as they work through the emotional trauma of what has happened to them. Clark offered for example that victims often have flashbacks or nightmares about what they went through.

She went on to say that the hotline is manned by trained individuals, either staff or volunteers, but all are well trained in how to offer assistance and comfort.

She said the hotline is available to everyone, and anyone can call in anonymously if they wish. They can talk about what has happened to them and can get recommendations on how to move forward.

Wellness program

Clark said this is a new program that she feels will be very beneficial to victims. The program utilizes a massage therapist who offers comfort and helps the victim work through issues of touch. She explained that after an assault many victims have issues with being touched in any way. It is an internal fear or a memory trigger. The therapy sessions help the victim to associate touch with comfort over fear and gets them back to a point where they can tolerate and even appreciate human touch.

The therapist will also use music and aroma therapy to help the victim though the process.

Community education

One in three girls are sexually abused before they turn 18 and one in five boys.

Clark said the center is pushing on working with the community to educate and promote awareness and assault prevention. The program teaches in classrooms starting with young children on ‘good touch – bad touch” and moves on to internet safety, bullying, dating safety, relationships and consent.

There is also a push to educate parents on how to respond when a child discloses an assault. She said that often times, what parents believe to be the right thing to say and do is just the opposite, causing the child to shut down or stop talking about what has happened to them.

Additionally, mom sobbing and dad losing his temper and lashing out are unpleasant experiences for a child who has already gone through something bad. When parents respond in this manner, the child may shut down because they don’t want to hurt mom and dad.

Clark said that the center provides education on how to respond to a disclosure and how to help a child or teen feel safe and reassured as they talk about what happened to him or her.

Clark was limited on time, so she stopped her presentation there saying that this was a topic that she could talk about all day because it is so important that we become educated about the stigma’s of rape and sexual assault, and it is so important that victims know they have resources and people who will advocate for them and help them deal with the trauma and the post-traumatic impacts of their assault.

She handed out a pamphlet about the Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault and encouraged everyone to take note of the 24-hour hotline number.

If you have experienced unwanted sexual advances, have been raped or assaulted, the primary message is that you are not alone in what you are going through, there are people who will help you and lead you through the healing process.

To get help contact the Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault in Taylorville by calling 217-824-9895, or call their hotline at 217-753-8081.

[Nila Smith]