Balancing the Rights for Victims of Crime.
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Surviving Rape
"The impact of trauma may span decades. Walking through this trauma, recovery and beyond with Donna Ferres will hasten that healing." Roxann Sangiacomo, M.D., Board Certified Psychiatrist |
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Do you know what to do if rape happens to you or someone close to you?
Donna Ferres knows first hand this stigma. She never expected she would be a victim of a brutal rape. She was simply doing a coworker a favor by covering her shift at the 7-Eleven convenient store. On August 3rd, 1979, this seemingly innocuous favor changed the twenty-four-year-old woman's life forever when she was kidnapped, brutally raped, stabbed multiple times and left for dead. Donna J. Ferres has dedicated her book and this web site to all victims and families. This web site will help you understand what it means to be a victim of rape, how to deal with the emotional trauma, to know your rights as a victim, how to proceed through the judicial process. Undying Will. A true story of how one women survived a brutal rape and near murder to bring her attacker to justice. Read about her will to live, her perseverance to stop a plea bargaining and her continuous effort to keep her attacker behind bars. Donna's book educates families, law enforcement, health care givers, families and friends on how to empathize with a rape victim and her emotional trauma. The FBI estimates that less than 40% of all rapes are reported to the police. Donna Ferres believes one of the reasons for this staggering statistic is fear. Victims fear coming forward because our judicial system is unbalanced. Victims fear being assaulted again by the system, they fear being accused of lying, they fear they are not believed and mostly, they fear the stigma, "rape victim."
Donna Ferres now functions as a Volunteer Victim Advocate who works to raise the level of awareness through helping rape victims through the Judicial Process. As an Advocate she informs, explains and supports the rape victim through a system that favors the accused. She is an Advocate who will sit with the victim through endless questioning by law enforcement and Prosecutors and who is a visual anchor during the victim's trial testimony. Ms. Ferres is the advocate who brings the victim's presence into the courtroom assuring that justice and validation are achieved. Her belief is that a strong Victim Advocate ensures a strong victim who will proceed through the judicial process affording longer prison terms and less recidivism. As an active Victim Advocate she levels the playing field by assuring that victims, not just the perpetrators, are given all of their rights under the law. |
"Comfort Bags"-click on the picture for the story behind these bags and their creator.
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Click on the book for ordering information.
