Comments on: Benefit for a Sexual Assault Survivor: Help if You Can

By: falloch

falloch — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:04:48 +0000

“Her friends are putting together a benefit to raise money for her medical bills, legal fees, and counseling.”
The whole story is horrible enough but this is where my jaw dropped to my kneecaps – this woman has been brutalised, raped, beaten, and then has to pay her own medical bills? Is this really true? Is this like the whole Sarah Palinesque you-must-pay-for-your-own rape-kit controversy? How dare America thinks itself a ‘developed’ country…BBC news tonight has a focus on Afghan Taliban ruling re: women who must have sex with their husbands, confom to Shia rule, etc. I have zero time for this, but for the US to preach ‘women’s rights’ while charging money for women to repair their rape-damaged bodies, plus legal fees, is just astonishing. There is a thin, strong veneer of laws in the US that are supportive of women, but underneath is just horrific.

By: Jill

Jill — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:07:49 +0000

Just FYI, I’m looking into where people can send non-monetary donations. I don’t want to publish the organizer’s email address without her permission, but as soon as I hear back I’ll update the post. In the meantime, you can paypal monetary donations to the New Day Foundation link in the post.

Really heartened to see that people are interested in helping!

By: abyss2hope

abyss2hope — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:57:39 +0000

After reading the comments on the article, what I find fascinating is how some people comment on stories about horrific acts of violence and make it clear they only care about the victim because of their general disdain for a group of people which includes the alleged perpetrator — or is rumored to include the perp. These type of people are the same ones who use their general disdain for a group to justify calling other victims liars or stupid.

This behavior proves that these people don’t care about crime or justice except as tools they can use to further their bigotry.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:35:55 +0000

I’d like to donate something — hand crafted knits and maybe a website done for free. Who do I contact? I live in Chicago so it’ll have to be long-distance.

By: Emily

Emily — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:44:29 +0000

My organization is working on sending sexual assault resources. Was there a name/address included in the email to whom we could direct the donations? Right now we’re planning on sending them to Chris Candido at the Temple Grill (as specified in the linked article) unless directed otherwise.

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:20:51 +0000

First of all, what Nikita said. Grr.

Second, if we have or know someone who has something or -things they could donate for the auction, is there contact information for the organizers? Do you think leaving a comment over at the A New Day Fund site would suffice?

By: NinaG

NinaG — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:47:18 +0000

Is she aware of this: http://www.jud.ct.gov/crimevictim/

I advocate for survivors of DV and sexual assault in an emergency department in another city and part of my job is making sure survivors are informed about stuff like this. I don’t know if this woman fits the eligibility criteria but she and her friends should definitely look into this in addition to their silent auction.

By: Nikita

Nikita — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:40:23 +0000

Do yourselves a favour and don’t read the comments if you go to the article linked above…
I hope there is justice for this woman and I hope she is able to get a damn good therapist.