Logan offers programs to combat abuse
Despite what some people might think, abuse rates in Utah – and more specifically Cache Valley – do not differ greatly from national statistics.
“We are about equal with the national average state wide concerning abuse. As far as rape is concerned, Utah has a higher rate of rape per capita than the larger cities like New York City and Washington, D.C.,” said executive director of CAPSA (Community Abuse Prevention Services Agency ) Jill Anderson.
CAPSA is a local non-profit organization domestic violence and rape crisis center. CAPSA offers a 24-hour crisis line and mobile crisis team for rape and abuse victims as well as counseling, support groups, shelter and providing victims with food and clothing if needed. CAPSA helps victims obtain protective orders if necessary and presents preventative programs to middle school and high school students about abuse and date rape.
Approximately 80 percent of CAPSA clients are there because of domestic abuse while 20 percent of the cases deal with rape, Anderson said. Whether abuse is increasing in the area or not is hard to measure but more abuse and rapes are at least being reported.
“People are more aware now of the services available and what abuse really is,” Anderson said.
In the last year, CAPSA received 8,000 calls to their hotline as opposed to 657 calls in 1990. The 24-hour CAPSA mobile crisis team helped police with 370 abuse or rape scenes last year, helped 260 people at the shelter and helped 1,581 victims receive protective orders against their abuser.
“The majority of the clients are women. We do serve some men, probably not even 1 percent. We do serve children as well, but they’re usually in connection with services we’re giving the mom,” Anderson said.
A big part of the problem is the way women are socialized in the community. This is common in areas where one religion is predominant whether it be in Utah or the Bible Belt in the South, Anderson said.
“We just don’t teach street smarts to our girls. We teach them more to be polite and concerned about others and not being assertive and standing up for themselves,” she said.
“We’re getting better. We still have a long way to go. People are more willing to come forward and seek help,” Anderson said.
It may surprise some, more rapes occur after dances than after leaving a bar but they do. Just as shocking is the fact 75 percent of victims admitted to hospitals due to injuries from domestic abuse have recently left the abuser when hospitalized. And in 50 percent of domestic abuse cases, children are being abused as well.
The Child and Family Support Center in Logan deals specifically with neglected and abused children.
“Our mission has always been to prevent child abuse and neglect,” Sue Hoffman of the Support Center said. The center offers parenting classes, children social skill classes, clergy training, a shelter for abused children until proper placement can be found and prevention programs in elementary schools explaining to children the difference between “good touch” and “bad touch.”
“It’s been a really exciting program. We tell them what it is, how to protect themselves and who they can talk to,” Hoffman said. “We have had some disclosures of sexual abuse in the schools.”
Perhaps the most unique service offered by the center is a “nursery” for children up to the age of 11 for parents who need a break whether it be because of stress, to run errands or because of more serious situations such as medical emergencies, attempted suicide or a family crisis.
Children can stay at the center for up to 72 hours at a time. From June 2000 to June 2001, 1,183 different children stayed in the crisis nursery for a total of 10,326 hours and 18 children were placed in the shelter for a total of 2,091 hours, Hoffman said.
According to the Cache County Attorney’s Office there were 1,226 reported victims of child abuse last year and 949 of those were related to child sexual abuse.
“We’re lucky because we have a county attorney who is very willing to prosecute child abuse. Some other counties may not be as aggressive,” Hoffman said.
Both Anderson and Hoffman agree the most important first step for victims of abuse is to talk to someone about it whether it be a family member, a friend and hopefully, eventually a professional who can help.