Given at the Utah Health Department’s Cost of Sexual Violence Press Conference, Utah State Capitol, January 13, 2016
Today we have heard the results of the Utah Health Department’s study that found that sexual violence costs Utah $5 billion annually. I would like to speak for a few minutes about the human cost of sexual violence.
As a prosecutor, I have worked with sexual assault victims for the last 25 years. I have seen first-hand the devastation of sexual assault in the lives of victims. One sexual assault victim went from an outgoing and friendly college student to a recluse who lost her job and her college career because she could no longer leave her home. I have worked with victims who were afraid be alone in their own homes or to sleep in their own beds. I worked with a young man who told me that he thought of committing suicide daily because his family told him that he was at fault for his sexual assault because of his sexual orientation. I have worked with victims who would cry uncontrollably throughout the day, who had lost all joy in life and could not function normally. Indeed, I could talk for the next several hours about the pain and devastation of sexual assault that I have personally witnessed.
And the devastation continues. Just yesterday I picked up the Salt Lake Tribune and read about a case in which a young woman was raped and severely beaten in a restroom in a Burger King restaurant in West Valley City. Here are some things she told the Tribune.
“It’s been hard to deal with normal life. I don’t feel safe, no matter where I am. I am always scared someone is going to come up and attack me. This action from this one man will have consequences that will last my entire lifetime.”We are here today because Utah’s rates of sexual assault are too high – they are in fact higher than the national average. We are here today because we have studied and learned, we have seen the horrifying financial and personal cost of sexual assault, and now it is time for us to take action.
It is time that we put away the old, tired excuses for our inaction. It is time we put away the “not my problem” attitude. Because it is our problem. In fact, it is a problem that only we can fix. It’s on us.
I am not here to say that it will be an easy fix. But our goal is worthy and our cause is just. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could someday stand in this place and hold a press conference to say “Utah is the safest state in the United States.”
I believe this is possible. But it will take a sustained and significant effort from all of us. We need effort not just from the criminal justice system, but from the medical community, the schools, the churches, the private businesses, the media. We need all hands on deck to deal with sexual assault in Utah. We need everyone.
There is one simple thing we can all do starting today. We can believe and support victims. Last legislative session Representative Angela Romero sponsored a proclamation that made Utah a “Start by Believing” state.
This is an important step – to have Utah publicly declare that we will “Start by Believing” victims in Utah and help them in their journey for justice and healing. April 6 is the official Start by Believing Day here in Utah, and we all need to support this important public awareness campaign. We need to educate all Utahns. We need to ask every Utahn this question: “When someone tells you they were assaulted, what will your reaction be?” And then we need to ask them not to attack or blame victims, but instead to offer love and support.
I would like to share one brief cautionary tale of what can happen if we don’t believe survivors. Years ago I handled a case where a young woman reported being sexually assaulted by her uncle. The uncle was a man who was viewed as a “pillar” in the community – in the business world and in his church community. We filed the case and it went to trial. The young woman bravely told what happened to her to the jury. The jury found him not guilty. The effect on her life was devastating. She was ridiculed, ostracized for several years. Then years later that uncle was diagnosed with cancer and set about making amends in his life, settling up his affairs. He confessed that she had told the truth and apologized for his crimes against her. Yet the damage had been done, not only by his crimes and false denial but by the friends and family members who had harmed her as well.
One rape survivor once described that being a survivor is a terrifying and lonely journey. We have the power to take away that loneliness, to walk with survivors in their journey.
Utah’s first Governor Brigham Young once declared “This is the Place.”
Today is the day for each of us to make declarations of our own. “This is the Place” where we stand up and speak out against sexual violence. “This is the Place” where we work together to make all people in our state feel safe and protected. “This is the Place” where we help all victims to heal.
