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Provide Help, Support, & Information for Sexual Assault Survivors
Volunteer training classes are held twice each year, usually beginning in the
first week of October and the third week of May. For more information, check
out our Job Description,
Training Schedule, and
Summer Internship pages. To receive a
volunteer application packet, please telephone Cassandra von Gerds, Rape Crisis
Program Assistant Director, at (513) 523-4149 or
email her.
The Need for Volunteers
Volunteers come from all walks of life and from many different
backgrounds. They work as teachers, lawyers, cashiers, homemakers, police
officers, waitresses, teachers, bus drivers, and artists; they are mothers,
husbands, daughters, and grandmothers. Some are students, and some are
retirees. Some volunteers are survivors of sexual assault
themselves. Many volunteers know someone who was raped. All want to reduce
the number of rapes and alleviate its impact. Many volunteers begin working
in the evening and overnight, leaving in the pre-dawn hours for emergency
calls. They work weekends and holidays.
It would be safe to
estimate that well over half of those who provide services to survivors of
rape and sexual assault in America do so on a voluntary basis. These are not
ordinary volunteers, nor do they perform ordinary kinds of work. Rape crisis
volunteering calls for a great deal of caring and commitment, a large amount
of time and flexibility. It is as demanding and rewarding as the best of
careers. It can also be exhausting, depressing, and, at times,
heartbreaking. Burnout and anger are common side effects for
volunteers. But the positive feelings generated from human contact of the
most supportive and intimate nature outweigh the negative aspects for those
who volunteer.
In most places, services for survivors of rape and
sexual assault simply would not exist without volunteers. Although many
areas have rape crisis centers and/or victim witness programs that receive
funding, there is never enough money for the number of advocates needed to
fill the community’s service needs. For that reason alone, volunteers are
the backbone of rape crisis programs.
Volunteers respond to hotline
calls, provide crisis intervention counseling, meet survivors of rape in
hospital emergency rooms and police stations. They make the aftermath of
rape a little easier by explaining how the medical and legal systems work and
humanizing a complex and difficult process. They offer sensitivity and a
non-judgmental attitude, allowing survivors of sexual assault to begin to
recover in a setting that is unclouded by shame or
victim-blaming. Volunteers step into other people’s lives at a time when
help is needed most, and then they step aside with the healing passage of
time. VOLUNTEERS ARE THE CEMENT THAT FIXES THE CRACKS. Walking into the
life of someone in a crisis and helping them through it is not only helpful
for the survivor, but challenging and rewarding for the advocate. The lives
of both the giver and the receiver are touched in unique ways that impact
their lives for years.
Why Volunteer?
Many motives lead volunteers to help survivors of sexual assault. Some
volunteer to meet other people with whom they expect to share common
interests. Sometimes psychologists, lawyers, school counselors, and social
workers volunteer to expand professional skills. Some find that they do not
have the challenges in their jobs that they would like. Many retirees
volunteer as a way to learn new skills and stay active and involved in the
community. The best reasons to volunteer are the ones that involve
gaining new experiences and wanting to help others in need. Volunteers meet
many peers who have the same goals and concerns, allowing friendships to grow
in a natural, healthy way through shared experiences and values.
For
those individuals who have survived sexual assault at one time, it is of the
utmost importance that they have resolved their own experiences before trying
to assist others. Some people who attend training sessions hope to do so as
a substitute for counseling. Instead, it is important for sexual assault
survivors (and their family members) need to develop insight and skills for
coping with their personal issues prior to beginning volunteer work.
Survivors who wish to volunteer are expected to have been willing to "walk
the talk" by utilizing a support system and/or therapist to work through the
consequences of the painful experiences they have had. Skipping this
critical step prior to volunteering can lead to feelings of being
overwhelmed, and to becoming overly emotionally involved with clients.
An advocate who becomes too emotionally involved losses the objectivity and
clear-headedness that is needed to be effective and also runs a great risk of
burning out quickly. The concept of maintaining appropriate boundaries
between volunteers and those they serve is sometimes describes by visualizing
a circle around the survivor. It is the advocate’s role to place only one
foot inside that circle in order to provide emotional support and
information. Placing both feet in the circle can result in a survivor’s
dependence on the advocate rather than her gaining self-reliance and personal
power. Too much involvement can be detrimental to both the rape survivor and
the advocate.
What About Male
Volunteers?
The question of whether men should volunteer in programs that provide
services to survivors of rape has been a controversial one. Our staff
believe strongly that men are an important part of the Rape Crisis Program.
Men can offer special assistance to men and boys who have are survivors of
sexual assault. Often men and women function as effective teams when
responding to hospital calls. In such situations, the woman normally works
with a female survivor, while the man works with members of the family or
friends who may have accompanied the survivor to the hospital. This team
effort is especially effective when the victim has been brought to the
hospital by a husband, boyfriend or girlfriend, mother, or father. In their
anger and confusion about the rape, these "significant others" often direct
their feelings inappropriately. They may say something like, “How could you
have let him do this to you?” Parents, husbands, and lovers may
be so angry about what happened that they want to personally deal with the
matter by looking for the rapist – a potentially dangerous route. They need
encouragement to re-direct their energies towards actions which will help the
rape victim. A male advocate can help significant others to understand that
the assault was not her fault and make suggestions about what to say and do
that will be most helpful for the victim. "Significant others" often feel
guilty about the fact that they were unable to protect the victim from harm,
and may need reassurance that it was not their negligence that caused the
assault.
Family members may try to be over-protective of a relative
who was raped. At the other end of the spectrum, relatives may be afraid to
talk about the assault and continue life as if nothing happened. Most
controversial is the question of whether or not men should be advocates for
women who have survived a sexual assault. However, women who have been
victimized will likely have to talk to many men about their experiences after
the assault (e.g. spouse, boyfriend, police officer, prosecutor, doctor). In
our experience, a male advocate who is caring, knowledgeable, and
nonjudgmental is acceptable to most female rape victims. For a woman
who has lived through sexual assault or domestic violence, a sensitive male
advocate may be an important part of her journey towards recovery from
victimization.
(The information in this section was adapted from the Ohio Department of
Health’s Rape Prevention Program for its Guide for Developing Comprehensive
Rape Crisis Services in Ohio.)
Return to the Rape Crisis Program's
main website @ www.helpandhealing.org
Interested in learning about
other volunteer opportunities at the Community Counseling & Crisis Center?
Return to Community Counseling
& Crisis Center web page
24-hour
Helpline:
(513)523-4146, 424-5498, or 894-7002
email us
Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003 Community Counseling & Crisis Center
   
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