April is Alcohol and Sexual Abuse Prevention Month

The afternoon sun shined on a small group gathered in front of the Tom Green County Courthouse Thursday. The Concho Valley C.A.R.E. Coalition (Community Action and Resources for Empowerment and Success), The Alcohol & Drug Abuse Council for the Concho Valley (ADACCV), along with The Concho Valley Rape Crisis Center, with support from the District Attorney’s office, gathered to proclaim the month of April the Alcohol & Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

“There are a lot of people that we work with that have multiple issues and compounding problems,” said Karla Payne, Executive Director of the CVRCC. “There are some that need to go to ADACCV, the Rape Crisis Center, as well as other agencies, so we are glad we are all there for them, and can provide the services.”

ADACCV formed CV CARES in 2007 with the mission of creating an environment that encourages the reduction of youth substance abuse. CV CARES collaborates with agencies and individuals from 12 different sectors in the community.

“Our community is only as strong as our individuals, and the agencies that do something about the issues,” said Eric Sanchez, CEO for ADACCV. “We are very blessed to have so many partners, so many resources, and combining that, and letting the community know how they can be a part of that.”    

According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, a total of one in six women and one in thirty three men have experienced an attempted or completed sexual assault in their lifetime. 483 verified victims were reported in the Tom Green County in 2013, the county has a rate of child abuse and neglect of 17.9 per 1,000 kids aged 0-17 years, almost double the average state rate of 9.3. Those numbers also include child sexual assaults.

“We really need to dispel myths. I think myths are what perpetuate rape culture and also accentuate victim blaming. We are still hearing questions about the victim, instead of the perpetrator,” said Karla Payne, Executive Director of the CVRCC. “We want to turn that around and hold the offenders accountable, we want to make John Bests’ job a little bit easier.”

John Best from the TGC District Attorney’s office was in attendance to show support. “Hopefully we can put a stop to all of this so I can go work at Wal-Mart,” he said. “Until then we will continue to prosecute those guilty of these horrible crimes to the fullest extent of the law.”

Alcohol and sexual assault can go hand in hand, in that a victim may be drugged while drinking, or that a traumatized victim will sometimes turn to alcohol to cover the pain of their experience.

According to a Campus Safety Magazine study, 90 percent of all acquaintance rapes involve alcohol. Forty four percent of those are under the age of 18, and even more alarming is that 43 percent involved alcohol consumption by the victim themselves, and 69 percent involved alcohol consumption by the perpetrator.

For more information on abuse visit: www.rainn.org or www.adaccv.org.