{"id":4097,"date":"2004-04-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=4097"},"modified":"2018-01-24T12:50:38","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T20:50:38","slug":"local-woman-brings-rape-into-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=4097","title":{"rendered":"Local woman brings rape into spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

*Rape is the most frequently committed violent crime in the U.S. *Most rapists are not strangers: someone the survivor knows commits 80% of all sexual assaults. False accusations account for only 2% of all reported sexual assaults.”<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As astounding as the statistics about rape are, putting a real life face and voice to this tragedy is even more astounding. Here is one local woman’s story.<\/p>\n

Lea is the single mother of three teenage sons. Up until about three years ago she managed a restaurant where she’d been employed for 20 years. “I had reported an assault nine months prior to the rape and was told that ‘cooks are hard to come by, let it go.’ They (her employers) denied the whole thing. … They turned everybody against me.”<\/p>\n

It was heartbreaking, said Lea. “When people think about rape they only think about just that moment, but they don’t about all the other horrible things. I lost my job. A single mom supporting three children of my own and I lost my ability to be able to support them.”<\/p>\n

Unlike many rape victims, Lea took her case to trial and won, only to find out that the perpetrator had skipped town and headed for Mexico.<\/p>\n

When the trial ended, many of her friends lost patience, expecting her to be able to move on. “I think awareness is what’s most important,” said Lea, who now volunteers much of her time as an advocate at the Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center<\/a>. “It’s just so important to make people aware of the magnitude of what happens to people’s lives. Not just the people that the crime was committed against, but their family, their friends. It’s amazing how many people turned and walked away from me at that point in time. …. I found a whole new family that does understand. I don’t know what I would do if I hadn’t found the Rape Crisis Center.”<\/p>\n

The most important thing about being an advocate for a rape survivor is to make them feel safe and supported, said Lea. “It takes a lot of heart and a heart that cares about another’s feelings. We don’t all have to be survivors to be an advocate. We have to be people that care. I’m so glad that people are out here and want to listen, because it’s so important. It’s a silent tragedy. That’s what rape is; it’s a silent tragedy.”<\/p>\n

For more information about the Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center call 963.6832 or visit www.sbrapecrisiscenter.org. There is also a 24-hour hotline number: 564.3696.<\/p>\n

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on April 22, 2004.<\/a><\/h6>\n

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