How do you do what you do?
I’m a Forensic Interviewer and Child and Family Advocate. Weekly and almost daily I’m asked, “How do you do what you do?”
First, I assure people I’m grateful for my 45-minute ride to and from work to prepare or debrief, but the real truth is I feel my work is is my calling. My calling is to be the voice for children who are raped, molested, and beaten, who live in a home where one parent is assaulted daily (likely the mother), and their homework likely splattered with blood when turned into to the teacher the next day.
My job is not easy; more often than not it’s horrific. And in all honesty my job is down right, to the core, awful! Not in the sense that I hate waking up everyday to go into work (because I love my job) but awful in the sense that, more often than not, the offender is not prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law (thanks to the CSI effect). More times than not, the child did not give the “perfect interview” so a jury will not convict. Awful because many of you who are reading this post believe rape and child molestation only happens to families who don’t watch their children, who don’t go to church, who live on welfare and disability and have no job.
Well I’m telling you, you are wrong! Statistic show 70 percent of those serving time for a violent crime against a child(s) is Caucasian not African American. “Stranger Danger” isn’t as distant as you may think. 90 percent of child victims know their offender. So next time you decide to read a post on Social Media or watch a news broadcast, think before you speak those insulting words about how law enforcement, DFCS, medical personnel, and Forensic Interviewers should have done their job, and instead ask yourself what you are doing to protect the children around you. Here’s a few examples:
· Are you teaching your children about “okay” and “not okay” touches?
· Are you teaching your children to call their private parts the anatomically correct name?
· Are you showing and telling your children they can tell you any and everything?
We are all God’s children and he put us on Earth for a reason. Advocating for these children is my reason but we must all ask ourselves: are we letting judgment of others get in the way of being a voice for them or being a listening ear for them?
-AJ
