RAPE CRISIS CENTER
who were supposed to be helping them.
Cont.
Meetings with police so far have been quite successful. Lynn Hammond, founder of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, who has been handling most of the police liaison efforts has found policemen to be surprisingly responsive to her talks. Many she found, expressed the view that they were as uncomfortable as the victim during an interview and that they often didn't know exactly what to do in that situa. tion. This is not to say that now all victims will be treated with sensitivity, concern and understanding by the Cleveland Police Department. But it does mean that some positive steps have been made in the slow evolution of changing people's attitudes.
Strangely enough the most hostile police encounters which Rape Crisis volunteers have come into contact with so far have been with women in law enforcement. Some of them seem to feel threatened by the presence of a volunteer. This is a problem which will hopefully be worked out with better communications and a broader understanding of what it is that we are trying to do.
Efforts are being made to reach as many medical facilities and their staff members as possible in a step toward creating more sensitivity and awareness among those having contact with rape victims. Rape Crisis Center is letting these people know that we exist so that they will not question a volunteer's presence in the examining room of the hospi tal or during an interview with the police if the victim requests it.
Another valuable aid is the organization of group meetings for rape victims to talk to each, other for a kind of group therapy. The hotline provides the needed service of supplying information and a sympathetic listener who is not going to condemn the victim or blame her for what happened. The group meetings go one step further, giving victims who may have been afraid to mention their experience to anyone a chance to talk to others who are in a similar position. Many of these people have fears and anger for which they have previously had no outlet.
In order for the Rape Crisis Center to be a truly effective service, the hotline, which
is presently in operation from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, must be open for 24 hours each day.
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This, of course, will require the help of many more volunteers. One of the pitfalls of having to rely solely on volunteers is that they all must spend a great deal of their time elsewhere making a living. This problem will be solved if and when a funding agency can be found. And even with the most sympathetic volunteers spending all of their time at the Rape Crisis Center the help provided will not be enough if those persons outside of the Center who come in contact with victims are not aware of the problems. A volunteer can provide moral support, but in the courtroom, in the police station or in the emergency room, that in itself, is not enough.
The Rape Crisis Center hotline is located in the YWCA, 3201 Euclid Ave. For more information call 391-3912 after 6 p.m. daily.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE RAPED
-Go to a medical facility for a physical examination.
*Do not bathe, douche, or clean up in any way before going to the doctor, you will destroy the evidence.
*If the doctor is unfamiliar with rape examinations remind him that you will need evidence.
*Don't be afraid to ask the doctor what he is doing.
* Be sure to return to a doctor for VD and pregnancy tests.
-Call the police
*The decision of whether or not to report a rape is up to the victim. It should be noted, however that most hospitals report the rape as a matter of policy, often without telling the victim.
*If you do decide to report a rape the sooner the police are notified the better. Once again, do not destroy any evidence of what happened to you.
-Interview with police
*Police have to ask intimate questions which deal directly with the rape.
*Police do not have to badger you or put you on the defense. If you feel that you are being treated unfairly ask for the police person's badge number and report it. ACLU also has a complaint line. -Insuing legal procedures
*If a suspect is picked up, with his consent there will be a line up. If the victim recognizes her assailant in the line up the evidence is turned over to the Prosecutor's office.
*If the prosecutor thinks there is sufficient evidence he will issue an affidavit for the victim to sign and a warrant for the suspect's arrest.
*If the suspect is arrested he is booked and a preliminary hearing is set for Municipal Court. (The suspect has the choice of waiving the hearing in which case he would be bound over to the Grand Jury). *The Grand Jury must then issue either a True Bill or No Bill. If they issue a No Bill the case ends there. A True Bill leads to the indictment of the suspect. *The suspect is then arraigned for a hearing and the case goes to court.
(If a suspect is not picked up by police the victim is given what is called Form 42. This contains a general discription of the assailant and it is turned over to the Scientific Identification Unit. The victim may then be asked to look through mug books in an attempt to identify the assailant. If that does not turn up a suspect the case is labeled NFIL No Further Investigative Leads and is left in limbo until something else comes up.)
-The Rape Crisis Hotline may be called any time along the chain of events for either information or simply for someone to talk to. Call 391-3912.
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