Diary of a Victims' Advocate
A periodic column written by Crime Victim Advocacy Program staff at the Portland and Vancouver offices of Lutheran Community Services Northwest, a secular nonprofit offering multicultural services across the region.
These advocates work with a restorative approach throughout the metro area to support victims of crimes. All the services they provide center the needs of survivors while providing an opportunity for relationship healing and building with those who have been harmed as well as those who have caused harm.
These are some of their stories.
By now, I have lost track of the phone numbers I have scribbled on my pad. Which one is the Clark County clerk’s office again? That one? No that is the prosecuting attorney’s office about the criminal case. Or is that the number for Crime Victim Compensation in Olympia? The phone rings and it’s a therapist who specializes in trauma and PTSD, calling me back to tell me she doesn’t have any openings for my client right now. My email is open to a message from a case manager in child support. She has just sent me the form, which will claim a motion for contempt. I switch tabs and continue reading washingtonlawhelp.org to confirm I haven’t missed anything on the anti-harassment protection order my client will file at the Clark County Courthouse tomorrow morning by 11 a.m.
With every phone call, email and internet search I make on my client’s behalf, I am happy to shield her from this process. She is a domestic violence survivor who has endured years of abuse. The systems she has to navigate can be challenging and lacking in trauma informed care. For people outside of the dominant culture, there is often implicit bias and systemic racism built into them. The criminal justice system is rigid and a place where you can easily feel powerless and invisible. I have only been at this job as an intern for seven months, and it hasn’t taken long for the experience of a crime victim to reveal itself.
And yet, part of being a good advocate is not shielding the client from opportunities to use her agency. It is about letting her lead and making sure her agenda is front and center. This involves standing aside at the counter in the clerk’s office as she files her paperwork for a protection order. Or assuring her that her English is good enough to speak to the domestic violence advocate in the prosecuting attorney’s office. Or understanding she doesn’t feel safe for her oldest child to be alone with a therapist right now. Or celebrating the time she asked for a new translator when the one the detective hired was missing the mark. Or watching her endure an online Zoom hearing in the district court as she asserts her needs for protection. The accumulation of these experiences, however big or small, are places where victims of crime can regain their voice and power. It requires agility on the part of an advocate; knowing when to step inside and when to step aside. Don’t worry though, if you listen, your client will lead you.
My phone rings. It’s my client. She wants to talk to me about her friend who is also a survivor of abuse.
“I’m helping her,” she tells me. “I know what to do.”
Yes you do, I think. Yes you do.