Week 6

February 13-17, 2023

This week started out slow; on Monday, Shelley and Antoinette were not able to come

into the office, so we were not able to come into the office either. I spent the day meeting with

Asher Lybarger from Gamma Sigma Sigma, and we started planning how to conjoin our groups

to help prevent sexual assault and domestic violence on campus. We are planning to host a

tabling event on campus, and I am in the process of designing flyers to hang up around campus.

Tuesday was similarly slow going, I was able to watch an interview of a 70-year-old

woman. It was an emergency interview; it took place on a Saturday, as soon as possible after the

incident. The interview was conducted by Joanna Smith, the director of The Bright House, and I

noticed that she and Ashleigh have very different interview styles. Joanna seems more forceful

and to the point, asking questions one after the other, without buffering or soothing. She also did

not ease the woman into the interview, unlike Ashleigh who introduces the clients to her style of

questions to get a feeling for how they will answer questions as well as telling her how they will

answer.

The woman recounted her experience being raped by a man she met on the internet. She

did everything she is “supposed to do” to avoid being put in this situation. She had texted a

friend where she was going, that she was going to go for a drive with this man, however, he

parked in an abandoned area, and the man raped her. The woman tried to stop him, shoving him

away and shouting at him to stop, however, he proceeded to fondle and rape her.

Wednesday was a unique day, as we received a call from Georgia College Public Safety

in the early in the morning, and they said that a student had been raped downtown the night

before. She came in that afternoon for a forensic medical exam. I was not informed of the details
of her case, but she was at The Bright House for a couple hours while the exam was being

performed and processed, so I stayed late that night to make sure the Public Safety officer and

the woman’s mother didn’t need anything while they waited. While we perform medical exams

for people of all ages, we usually don’t get people who were assaulted by strangers, as most

assaults that happen are committed by people the victim knows.

Thursday was a remarkably busy day. The morning was quiet, a family, two girls and

their mother, came in for a meeting with Shelley, and a follow up exam with Katie. Then we had

an interview scheduled for 2:00 that day; a boy and a girl came in to testify against their aunt

who physically and sexually abused them. They were very clearly scared of going back to her,

and it seemed like their grandmother threatened them, that if they say anything bad about her,

they would be returned to their abusive aunt. They asked me and Ashleigh multiple times

throughout the evening if they were going to be sent back to their aunt.

However, based on the content of their interview, the findings of their medical exams,

and the fact that they were kidnapped by their grandmother, the woman who brought them in,

they were not able to leave with her that day. In fact, the grandmother had a warrant out for her

arrest for kidnapping the children from their abusive aunt, however, due to the fact that they had

new bruises on their bodies and that the boy had not received medical attention for a debilitating

toothache that he had had for years, the children were not any safer with her than with their aunt.

When the children came in, both Camden and I were in the lobby with them, while

Shelley and Katie talked with their grandmother in Shelley’s office. The girl drew a picture while

the boy played on his phone, he seemed to not have a lot of energy, most likely due to the stress

of the situation combined with the pain in his tooth. Then, during the girl’s interview I was able

to sit in with her during Ashleigh’s break, which she was excited about, because she already
knows me. I gave her markers and paper, and she was able to draw pictures, then she was able to

use the markers and paper later in the interview to draw pictures that gave more information

about what her aunt and uncle did to them. Then, after her break, I also watched over a little girl

who came into the office a couple weeks ago while her guardian was meeting with Antoinette

and they could work out a counseling schedule for her. We were in the conference room, and just

drew pictures, and she told me about her squishmallows.

Therefore, around 4:30 that evening, Antoinette came to me and Camden and asked us if

we could stay late to watch over the kids in her office while she talked with DFCS and the police

officer. I then spent the evening sitting with the children in Antoinette’s office, trying my best to

occupy and distract them while the staff members were talking with the DFCS agent and the

police officer arrested their grandmother. Eventually, the children’s cousin, with whom they are

very close, came to take them in with her.

The second half of this week was exhausting, full of long days and big emotions. I was

able to learn a lot about the downsides of child advocacy, even though Thursday was a once in a

lifetime event, I am still trying to wrap my head around the evening’s events while also

preserving my mental health. I was able to learn more about DFCS and what they do as an

organization. Watching the agent asking the children if they know this person and if they feel

comfortable and safe with her was very interesting and comforting, knowing that she is looking

out for these kids and all of the other kids she works with.
 Date In Lunch Out Hours Worked
Monday
9:00 AM 12:30-1:30PM 4:00PM 6
February 13
Tuesday WORKING
11:30 5:00PM 5.5
February 14 LUNCH
Wednesday WORKING
9:00AM 5:30PM 8.5
February 15 LUNCH
Thursday WORKING
9:30AM 6:30PM 9.5
February 16 LUNCH
Friday
9:00AM 1:00PM 4
February 17
Weekly Hours 33.5
Total Hours to
187
Date