The Advocacy Dream
The victim advocacy tool can be better utilized and there are proposals already on the table that would help push the idea forward. Let’s look at mental health as an example. When I first meet a clinician and they ask for the quick and dirty (in their own language that is) they immediately think that I am a Borderline Personality Disorder. Mostly based on circumstances. This diagnosis is often assessed to people based on circumstances they are currently in and have been in at some point in the past. I have seen certain professionals, particularly of the younger generations, who hear that you have been homeless, have terrible relationships with your family, and often find yourself unemployed as THE PRIMARY indicators of confirmation of BPD. However, context is everything.
Without considering that you were homeless due to human trafficking, avoid your family because they sold you to traffickers, and are often unemployed because the trafficker controls your every action then you will certainly draw incorrect conclusions. These are circumstances that are extreme trauma and the root cause of your situations. Now of course a person could still be BPD but you would need more context to truly determine if that is an accurate assessment or not. Most clinicians don’t take the time to determine a difference, many don’t even know how to. They would never say it but in practice, it’s common.
Once the diagnosis is given, people don’t want to change their positions because it makes them look unprofessional. They stick with the diagnosis to save their own asses while the client struggles with life. Treatment must be aligned with diagnosis and the treatment for the two are vastly different. Ask any victim advocate and they will tell you that victims must have support within specifically trained trauma-informed care environments. It requires specific training by trauma specialists. Few clinicians actually ever get such training and it is not a part of credentialing. Absent this training, you miss a lot of detail.
Victims see practitioners who are not trauma-informed all day every day and suffer the consequences of the shortage of empowered, credentialed, accurately trained trauma-informed are specialists. It affects the victim's life in ways that professionals often miss. If I weren’t trained in human analysis, I would not be able to communicate to my counselors about my trauma background. Not only as an advocate, and a former paramilitary operative but as a survivor. It changes the conversation EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!
I have seen countless survivors who stopped seeing their counselors and moved to trauma-informed care specialists because they saw such a vast difference in the forms of treatment and it had a powerful impact on their lives. Statistics show that after meeting with victim advocates survivors feel more empowered, are better informed, and feel they can gain access support to get their needs met. Victim advocates have spoken about these matters for decades, these people are the most undervalued human resource that America has. There should be trauma-informed care victim advocates everywhere, all the time, available for everyone! That is what an ideal society looks like. That’s how you clean up this tragedy that America has become. That is how you level the playing field for all to become one. That is how you regain the trust of the people and the people of her Constitution and the nation’s infrastructure. That is how you ensure no one is left behind. That is how you utilize defense budgets and police budgets appropriately! That is how you address racism, bigotry, human rights violations, brutality, corruption, and the rise of extremism.
It most certainly will reduce crime, ask police chiefs. They would prefer that victim advocates handle victims and law enforcement handle perpetrators. They will tell you that most officers hate victim advocates because of the antagonistic history but would still prefer to have them handle victims because they like winning cases and locking up perpetrators. Every officer I have ever spoken to has told me exactly those words. “if we can get along I’m all for it, that would make my life easier”. They simply want to know they can trust each other and no one is getting in the way of investigations. It’s most officer’s desire to lock up the offender but they will all tell you sometimes they have no idea who it is so often both or no one goes to jail because both the victim and the perpetrator end up being looked at the same way. Worst yet there is the percentage of officers who are misogynists’, they are very often the same as the racists, everyone knows who they are. They lock up the woman every time, no matter what. Their cases often get thrown out or worst yet they win every case and they have a reputation for taking down female victims. The same toxicity that refuses to investigate the reports of child molestation or rape are the same ones who abuse, batter and kill both at home and on the job. Victim advocacy will address this too.
The problem in America is toleration of extremism, this can’t be ignored. Trauma-informed care specialists are already trained in how to address the victims of extremism and identify who is the victim and who is playing one.
There have been pieces of legislation introduced, some of which are included in VAWA and the TVPA that protect victim’s rights and establish best practices for officers and victim advocates. There has been a push to add more advocates nationally, in every law enforcement branch from local P.D. up through to the FBI., DHS, Mil, and Intelligence agencies. Everywhere, all the time for everyone. Hospitals, schools, federal agencies, legislative offices, statehouses, county and state-run agencies and offices, colleges and universities, senior centers, community centers, clinics of every kind, fiduciary settings, financial institutions, any setting that requires public trust. Advocates, all the time, everywhere, for everyone! Jails, prisons, courthouses, the IRS., military bases for service members and their families, for those serving abroad, for those serving in Clandestine operations, everyone, all the time, everywhere deserves access to victim advocacy at all times.
Something this efficient would literally change the world.. Victim advocates talk about, make proposals on it, advocate for it, even lobby for it. It’s time to start implementing solutions quickly and efficiently. Because that field is so closely scrutinized, they have a very ethical system that ensures people are treated fairly and equally.
That being said, because systemic oppression is still fostered, racism and xenophobia of every type are a part of the field. It’s far safer than most environments but they are actually few and far between to find. Victim advocacy programs are extremely underfunded and undersupported. But with proper legislation, funding, and implementation it is an ideal way of addressing every form of disparity anyone could even potentially face.
This is what the future looks like! Equal, just, fair, and full of support from advocates of every kind, everywhere, all of the time, for everyone.
If I had a victim advocate right now I would be thriving.
