Monday, September 26, 2011
Let me tell you about a girl named Sally.
There's someone very close to me, who has been there for me for a very long time. Her name isn't really Sally but for confidentiality reasons it will be in this story. When Sally was little, probably just around the age of 8 or 9. Her parents signed her up for a big brothers program. Sally loved it she went every week and she went to baseball games and zoos with her "big brother". However as the time went on, her "big brother" decided that he wasn't having as much fun as he could. So he forced Sally to give him oral pleasure and to allow him to sexually assault her. He threatened Sally that if she ever told anyone he would kill her. Every week Sally refused to go with her "big brother" but her parents shrugged it off because you see Sally had liked going before so when she tried to tell her parents she didn't want to go each week they thought it was just because she was bored of it or didn't feel like it. Her parents thought it was good for her to go, that it would make her a better child. So every week Sally was getting re victimized.
This crime caused her to become heavy into drugs, sleeping with people at a young age to get high. She could never hold a real job and she became a lesbian because she was scared of men.
Now years later ,after a sudden reminiscent. Sally Finally decided to tell her mom what happened all those years ago. Her mind had repressed it so much that she never thought about what happened to her when she was young until she saw a picture of the guy that had done this to her. He was accused for rape and his picture was on the news. When Sally saw his picture she had a mental break down. She started having Asama attacks and couldn't breath. She would have ran over to the hospital (luckily she lived right beside it) and the next day she called her mom. Her mother hadn't know about any of it for 13 years and when she herd that her daughter had been sexually assaulted by the guy that she was making her daughter go to every week she felt like the worst mother ever. Then she also found out that her husband at the time was also sexually assaulting their daughter and that Sally never told anyone because she was scared, threatened also her mind locked all those bad memories behind bars. Sally is still going through long term impacts on what happened because shes trying to sue the man that did this to her. She is having troubles keeping her relationship and her job. And she sleeps all day and hides away from her family and friends. Its very hard to see her like this especially since I'm very close to her.
Maybe is Sally would of gotten counseling or told someone about what happened she would of dealt with it better instead of having a mental breakdown. But sometimes its not that easy. Harper from the episode "closure" also changed her life because she was a victim of crime. She might of not changed as dramatically as Sally but Sally was also living with it alone. I think to soften the impacts of crime on victims, they should talk to people, have people around them, comfort them, help them with whatever they need, and show them the truth about life and that it can be a wonderful place.
This crime caused her to become heavy into drugs, sleeping with people at a young age to get high. She could never hold a real job and she became a lesbian because she was scared of men.
Now years later ,after a sudden reminiscent. Sally Finally decided to tell her mom what happened all those years ago. Her mind had repressed it so much that she never thought about what happened to her when she was young until she saw a picture of the guy that had done this to her. He was accused for rape and his picture was on the news. When Sally saw his picture she had a mental break down. She started having Asama attacks and couldn't breath. She would have ran over to the hospital (luckily she lived right beside it) and the next day she called her mom. Her mother hadn't know about any of it for 13 years and when she herd that her daughter had been sexually assaulted by the guy that she was making her daughter go to every week she felt like the worst mother ever. Then she also found out that her husband at the time was also sexually assaulting their daughter and that Sally never told anyone because she was scared, threatened also her mind locked all those bad memories behind bars. Sally is still going through long term impacts on what happened because shes trying to sue the man that did this to her. She is having troubles keeping her relationship and her job. And she sleeps all day and hides away from her family and friends. Its very hard to see her like this especially since I'm very close to her.
Maybe is Sally would of gotten counseling or told someone about what happened she would of dealt with it better instead of having a mental breakdown. But sometimes its not that easy. Harper from the episode "closure" also changed her life because she was a victim of crime. She might of not changed as dramatically as Sally but Sally was also living with it alone. I think to soften the impacts of crime on victims, they should talk to people, have people around them, comfort them, help them with whatever they need, and show them the truth about life and that it can be a wonderful place.
What are the short and long term impacts on victims of Crime?
In the law and order episode we watched on Friday a girl named Harper went through the long and short term impacts of a rape victim. A short term impact she faced was when she had to retell her story to the police multiple times so they could file it under the right case. Also when she went to the hospital to get a rape kit done to find any evidence. This caused her to relive the scenario so it was like she was getting re victimized. After all the stories were told and the evidence was gathered that they could. Harper had a life makeover and changed her way of living. She started wearing running shoes to bed and left her boyfriend because she couldn't be with him intimately anymore. She got her hair cut and changed her wardrobe, she got multiple locks on her door and hid from society. These are affects of long term impacts. Harper was trying to change the person she once was. Maybe hoping that if she changed enough that everything that happened before would just go away. This shows fear and long-term stress. Harper also said that if she ever saw the man that raped her she would be able to spot him in a crowd. however when the time came
(6 months later) to spot the man that raped her. She didn't know who he was. She thought he wasn't in the suspect room even though he was standing right in front of her. So maybe her mind blocked his image from her mind, maybe it was pushed back so far in her mind that she couldn't remember his face. Maybe she was hoping he wasn't in there so her mind led her to believe that he wasn't. Either way when Harper went to go look at the suspects she couldn't pin-point him out.
(6 months later) to spot the man that raped her. She didn't know who he was. She thought he wasn't in the suspect room even though he was standing right in front of her. So maybe her mind blocked his image from her mind, maybe it was pushed back so far in her mind that she couldn't remember his face. Maybe she was hoping he wasn't in there so her mind led her to believe that he wasn't. Either way when Harper went to go look at the suspects she couldn't pin-point him out.
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