Women’s Center provides specialized care to assault victims

No matter what time it is, day or night, she is ready when the phone rings.

Teresa Curtis, also know as T.C. around the Coeur d’Alene Women’s Center, has volunteered as an on-call sexual assault/rape crisis trained advocate one or two weekends each month for the last 10 years.

The Women’s Center provides 24-hour services for all victims of rape and sexual assault, and since 1977 has been assisting families in crisis as a result of violence.

In addition to operating a hotline, victim advocates are available to accompany and support victims at the hospital, with law enforcement and through the judicial systems. Client anonymity and confidentiality are top priorities.

Originally, Curtis responded to an ad in the paper asking for women center volunteers because she wanted to do something for the community.

“The need was greater than I realized,” Curtis says, and it is the main reason that she continues to volunteer today.

“A success story to me is when a victim becomes a survivor,” Curtis says. “The personal reward you receive from helping someone who needs your support and caring is a feeling unlike any other.”

How much time Curtis spends with a client depends entirely on the client.

“We hold their hands and stay as long as they need us. It could be 45 minutes or four to five hours,” Curtis says.

April 10-16 is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and the entire month is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Awareness Month.

According to the National Center for Victims of Crime there is a rape/sexual assault every two minutes. In the state of Idaho there is a forcible sex offense every 7.7 hours.

Dot Clark, The Women’s Center sexual assault program manager, wants people to understand that sexual assault is a crime of violence.

“Assailants seek to dominate, humiliate and punish their victims,” says Clark. “They overpower their victims with the threat of violence.”

Contrary to popular belief, assailants are not crazed psychopaths who do not know their victims, according to Clark.

“As many as 78 percent of all assaults involve acquaintances,” says Clark. “An assailant might be someone you know intimately. It may be a co-worker, a friend or a family member. We really do not know how much of it occurs since so many incidences are never reported,” Clark says.

Recognizing the need to provide special care to victims of rape and domestic violence, the first victim-assistance programs were established in the United States in 1972. These programs were the first to recognize that emotional crisis was a critical part of the injury inflicted.

“Victims of sexual assault usually experience an emotional crisis, and are reluctant to share such deep feelings with someone they know,” Clark says.

They may become displaced from their home, find themselves financially stranded or in need of emergency resources.

“Many victims suffer in silence and accept the shame,” Clark says. “We are here to offer the support and understanding that frequently is not available through their usual channels of life.”

Because the Women’s Center offers short-term crisis intervention, they usually don’t get to see what becomes of the survivors of rape and sexual assault, unless they make contact.

“However, in the 10 years I have worked with victims of this heinous crime, I have personally witnessed their outstanding courage as they try to recover and go on in a variety of ways,” Curtis says.

“Stories and situations go home with us, and our volunteers have to have a special heart to deal with it,” Clark says.

“Teresa prays for everyone at the center and cares about her community,” Clark says. “Her dedication and devotion to do this for 10 years is absolutely phenomenal.”