Claremont
Despite a more survivors of sexual violence speaking out, and improved physical, emotional and mental health services, Denis O’Sullivan of the Sullivan Sheriff’s Department provided a sobering assessment of the problem.
“What has hit home for me is this young lady. It is the same story that gets repeated over and over,” said O’Sullivan, who has been in law enforcement in the county since the late 1980s.
O’Sullivan was referring to a woman at the discussion sitting to his right who had just told her story of being sexually assaulted and the problems she encountered to get police to investigate her story and prosecute the suspect.
“Aubree,” not her real name, said the attack occurred in her apartment.
“Not being believed is a big thing,” she said. “You get so scared you don’t know what to do. … It was hurtful as a victim, especially because the officer was female. The police did not want to help me.”
The criminal case is pending and “Aubree” said she is now receiving help from Turning Points Network and law enforcement.
Kuster praised the woman for her “courage.”
“What will it take to educate society,” she added.
O’Sullivan, an investigator with the county sheriff’s department, said the woman’s experience shows that as a society and as a justice system, there is room for a lot of improvement.
“Victims, even today, are being dragged through the mud,” O’Sullivan said. “It is very troubling to see that. I’m hoping we can start to turn the corner and move forward.”
While, “victim blaming” was an often mentioned problem, the discussion included other difficulties in trying to stem the problem sexual violence.
“This has been an issue for many, many years,” Kuster said, adding that a high profile sexual assault case at Stanford University helped bring it to the forefront.
Kuster, who has recounted publicly her own experience with sexual assaults, has helped put together a legislative task force aimed at curbing sexual violence.
“We are a 40 member task for of Democrats, Republicans, men and women,” Kuster told the gathering in the conference room on the second floor of the Moody building. “We have held hearings to educate our colleagues and rolled out our legislative agenda.”
Kuster said prevention, education and treatment and long-term recovery for victims are some of the goals of the group’s work.
Panelist Willow Moryan with Planned Parenthood said she has been in the health care field for 18 years in Sullivan County, and much of her work has touched on sexual assault. She said survivors of assaults often suffer from PTSD, anxiety, depression and substance abuse and unplanned pregnancies.
“More services for all of these are what we need,” Moryan said.
The need for a cultural change shift in how young people are raised was mentioned as critical to reducing the high rates of sexual assaults.
SAU 43 Superintendent Cindy Gallagher, serving Newport and a few smaller towns, said she has seen students who are exposed to unhealthy, often violent behavior at home and begin to mimic them at school.
“Our kids think this is normal and are replicating it out on the streets,” Gallagher said.
After the discussion, Kuster said in a statement that she would bring the thoughts and concerns she heard back to the task force “as we continue to discuss, hold hearings and draft legislation on this issue to end sexual violence in our rural communities.
Earlier in the day, Kuster was in Hanover for a “listening session” on the 2018 farm bill.
“It was a very good turnout,” Kuster said. “There was a lot of discussion on organic and how the new bill would help organic farmers. They don’t want us to diminish the standards for organic (farming). We also talked about land and water conservation, timber and programs to support forest products and nutrition programs, including school lunches.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
