Standing Up For Rape Victims
Sexual assault happens every day in Honolulu, and when it does the Sex Abuse Treatment Center is there with medical care as well as legal and emotional support
By Alice Keesing
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An SATC counselor (who requests
anonymity) with a client
victims heal from any form of sexual violence. Last year, it worked with more than 690 people. (While that adds up to nearly two people a day, it probably doesn’t scratch the surface of those in need, Ramelli says.) In addition, the center’s hotline fielded more than 2,000 calls. And it educated more than 4,000 kids on sexual assault prevention.
“SATC does everything: They work with the victims of sex assault, they work with the prosecutors, with the doctors - it’s something that Hawaii should be really proud of,” says Mimi Beams, who is president of the center’s advisory board. “As far as we know, we’re the only state in the country that has the complete range of services.”
The SATC is a program of the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, although its offices are located in the Harbor Court building downtown. The offices are light and welcoming, with breathtaking views of the harbor, and the waiting room is well-stocked with children’s toys and books - a jolting reminder that the majority of victims of sexual violence are children.
“Anyone can be a victim,” Ramelli says. “You’ve got everybody from very young children to the elderly, to all the different ethnic groups. But probably the most prevalent ... are children. It’s definitely a crime against children. Sixty percent of our caseload is children. And most of them are assaulted by a family related member - it’s someone they know.”
Children are also under attack from another source, these days, Ramelli says. The popularity of websites such as MySpace.com has made children vulnerable to sexual predators who lurk online. Honolulu police have arrested three men in recent weeks for having sex with juveniles they met on the popular Website.
It’s no surprise that victims of sexual violence are predominantly female. But, yes, men can be victims, too, Ramelli says, although she estimates that less than 5 percent of the center’s clients are male.
Advocating for victims of sexual violence requires a good measure of boldness and resiliency. As those involved with the center often say, this is not breast cancer or a car accident; this is something that makes many people uncomfortable and uncertain of how they should respond.
Ramelli is known for the Italian-Swiss passion that she brings to the task. She joined the center 24 years ago as a counselor and became the executive director in 1984. Even after all these years, she’s still shocked by what people can do to one another.
One of the ways she stays on top of the emotional assaults of the job is by training for and competing in triathlons. (Successfully, too. Two years ago, she placed second in her age group in the Tinman.) But Ramelli draws her greatest inspiration from the strength of the people the center helps.
Adriana Ramelli with Christine Trecker, manager
of prevention and education services (left), and
Cindy Shimoni-Saito, manager of crisis and
medical services
“If there’s anything that is most incredible about working here, it’s that you see the resiliency of people and you see how strong they are,” she says. “These are people who’ve experienced something extremely terrifying ... and as they go through counseling you actually see the changes they make in coping with this. They go from a situation of being totally powerless, to a point where they control it, rather than it controlling them.”
Tina Gonsalves says the center helped her become a stronger person after her stepfather molested her when she was 6 years old.
“This is a great center,” Gonsalves says. “These people work night and day here. I was 6 years old then, and I’m 23 now and they’ve kept in touch with me all these years. We’re not just a number or just another case for them.”
SATC’s team of psychologists, crisis intervention therapists and psychiatrists is available around the clock to help those in need. In the event of a sexual assault, a trained doctor and counselor will respond to Kapiolani Medical Center. This crisis team helps the victim through the emotional aftermath.
Years ago, the SATC developed a state of the art protocol for gathering forensic evidence. “Our protocols haven’t been questioned in court for years,” Ramelli says proudly.
Yet she stresses that services are available for people even if they don’t want to file a police report.
“It’s about the victim first,” she says. “It’s not about law enforcement. It’s not about the criminal justice system. We just want people to know that there is help here if they need it.”
Aside from evidence collection, the victim is treated for injuries and offered testing and medication for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. There is also ongoing counseling and legal support.
Ramelli has in her office a stack of evaluations written by people who have received this care. Almost to a person they write - sometimes in heart-breakingly childish scrawl - about feeling cared for and of their gratitude for the support they received in what may have been one of their darkest hours.
It’s a far cry from the city morgue.
The Sex Abuse Treatment Center can be reached at 535-7600 or online at www.kapiolani.org/facilities/programs-sex.html. The emergency 24-hour crisis hotline is 524-7273.
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