Realities of Funding Veto for the Rape Crisis Center serving Duval, Nassau and Baker Counties—

This veto communicates indifference and ignorance with regard to the pervasiveness of sexual violence in the communities around our state and the needs of the people directly impacted.  To have the decision made within April, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, adds insult to egregious injury.  At least it certainly communicates the extent, or lack there of, of "awareness".

We will continue to serve – but it just became more difficult to do what we do.

We will continue to create awareness around the realities of living in a rape culture, which harmfully excuses the objectification and hyper-sexualization of women and men, to the extent that we regularly blame victims and by doing so silence them.

We will continue to intervene within hours after victimization for ANYONE – to hold space for their coming undone, to hold their hand as they offer their bodies up as crime scenes so that the evidence of another’s invasion can be collected from them.  We will continue to dare and explore the possibility of ‘hope’ with them.

We continue to assure them that they are not alone – whether they have called us at 4:00 in the morning because the gravity of the assault is haunting them yet again or whether they need us to hold them up as the verdict, deciding the fate of their rapist, is read in a courtroom.

We will continue to advocate with landlords who need help understanding why someone raped in their home will have a difficult time returning and therefore, may need to be excused from their lease or assisted with relocation.

We will continue to create visibility around our presence here and our services for those we know to be our community’s under-served – LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) victims, elder victims, male victims.

We are going to continue doing what we have always done because THIS is the work we choose.  Day after day, night after night, WE are here – because we choose to hold space for victims of sexual violence who have experienced the dehumanizing annihilation of their physical bodies, to the extent that it touches their spirit.

We will continue to do all of this and more…but we will do so with less – without hope for more.

Tina C. Vaughn

Director, Rape Recovery Team