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She has more than 20 years of clinical and administrative experience in trauma and mental health disorders.
Laura Palumbo is the communications director at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
(All of the above-mentioned accused parties have publicly denied these allegations.)
Ebonique Bethea is the clinical director for RAINN, the national organization working to end sexual violence including rape, abuse, and incest.
I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.
As Ocasio-Cortez said in her Live, when we go through trauma, trauma compounds on each other.
Sexual assault and abuse are traumatic incidents that can have significant health effects on survivors.
In the short-term, trauma survivors can experience guilt, denial, and shock.
Pandemic restrictions actually trigger the past trauma.
(Having a prior history of trauma alsoincreases ones risk of PTSDwith each new trauma experienced.)
This may be forcing people to confront their past traumas in ways they may never have had to before.
Whats bringing people forward now?
Belief is actually the most important factor, she says.
Ebonique Bethea is the clinical director for RAINN, the national organization working to end sexual violence including rape, abuse, and incest.
[Many] survivors do not come forward for that reason, especially young kids.
Cultivating disbelief, meanwhile, is a key tactic of abusers, she adds.
Thats their way of manipulating in the moment.
They say stuff like, Nobody would believe you.
You wanted this anyway, you didnt fight me back.'
Online communitieshave really become peoples support systems, says Palumbo.
Do I want to come forward?
I think well get more movement.
The more people come, the more other people show up, she says.
Its all about timing.
It takes time for survivors to come forward.
This has got to be a priority, she says.
In the meantime, the experts urge survivors to believe that they are not alone right now or ever.
This is happening every day.
It must be addressed.
Were on the precipice of changeand its on us as a society to see it through.
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