By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS – A new name, a new director and "A Call to Action" by a man highlighted the second annual Cass County Take Back the Night sexual assault survivor rally attended by about 20 people Wednesday night outside the 1899 courthouse.
The Domestic Assault Shelter Coalition (DASC) of Three Rivers is evolving in May into the Domestic and Sexual Abuse Service (DASAS) serving Cass, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties, according to Mary Lynn Falbe, the new executive director.
She started Feb. 5 and is from Battle Creek.
"We do both services at an equal level," Falbe said, "but sexual abuse is not something people can see as easily as domestic violence. When someone hauls off and hits someone, they have a black eye, but there's not usually a physical appearance to sexual abuse victims."
Greg Price chairs the Cass County Task Force on Violence.
"The hardest thing for me to do is to put aside my masculinity and look at the object of a woman as the fragile being God gave us as a gift – not for man to abuse or batter, but for man to love. For women and children who are suffering right now as we speak, we should be out here acting against that as we would for robbery, theft or any number of crimes," Price said.
"We got a man on the moon," Price said. "Space is reality. Organ transplants are commonplace. We have cell phones, TV on the Internet, GPS (Global Positioning System) – all these things that at one time were considered science fiction. But now we live in a world where they're all here and we utilize them every day to survive. Why can't we give women and children the peace and tranquility of a good life to live in peace and harmony together?"
Chris Siebenmark, aide to state Sen. Ron Jelinek, R-Three Oaks, said, "It's everybody's job to provide a point of hope. Domestic violence is an issue of domination and confinement. That person on the receiving end needs to know there's another way out. There's opportunity beyond day-to-day life that they encounter. Having Greg as the point person … sends a message, too. To have a male in that position really says a lot. The fact that you have enough faith within your organization to say, 'Our chair is going to be a guy,' also sends a message that there are good guys out there."
"A lot of crimes are committed person to person," Siebenmark said, "but domestic violence is probably the most intimate because that person has figured out the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of that victim and dominated them. In many ways it's a whole lot worse than a random crime."
Sheriff Joseph Underwood said, "We have to be extremely careful in law enforcement not to make them victims twice, and to make sure we have the compassion to deal with these types of cases because they are difficult. We want to find the people involved and bring them to justice. When you're raped or victimized by a violent sexual assault, it's something you never heal from. You could have a robbery and you'll go on. When you do this type of crime in Cass County, you're going to be held accountable."
"Cass County does not play around," said Kim Kramer, DASAS sexual assault coordinator for the three counties. "Our prosecutors do not stand for this, and that's a great thing. All the counties are great, but of the three, I can say this on a personal level, Cass is the most collaborative. The prosecutors here are compassionate and caring in wanting to bring this to an end, stand behind the survivors and really support them. We could not do what we do without the partnerships we have."
Sexual assault is about power and control – not sex, Kramer added.
Kramer said Take Back the Night, which Dowagiac hosted the first year, started in England and spread to California in 1978 to create public awareness of the need for women to be able to walk safely.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jason Ronning said, "We only get cases when they're near the end. It's law enforcement officers from the Sheriff's Office and police departments who put these cases together and give us (the evidence) we need" to convict offenders.
Ronning talked about legislative changes that "open the door" to admission of prior activities by defendants, such as a recent trial for the brutal rape of a 3-year-old girl who is now 9.
Ronning also mentioned "Jessica's (Lunsford) Law," passed in Florida in 2005. A version has been introduced at the federal level.
Jessica's Law is designed to punish child sexual predators and to hinder their ability to re-offend. Key provisions are a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and lifetime electronic monitoring.
"In our office, we also appreciate Amanda Smego, our victim coordinator, because the files cross her desk. She deals with them directly and handles our witnesses for all kinds of trials."
"Amanda will call you back and she will go to court with you," Kramer agreed. "We can walk alongside you, as well, but the Prosecutor's Office in Cass County will do whatever it can to help you through the case because most people, when this happens to you, really don't know what to do. You don't understand court proceedings or the letter you get that there's going to be a pretrial conference."
Roseanne, who said she's originally from Berrien County, said from the audience that she had been violently abused "and I'd just like to thank everybody here for your support when I was at the shelter in Three Rivers. If it wasn't for people like you, who care for people they don't even know, I might still be living in the same house," she said, starting to cry.
"There are a lot of people out there who are being abused and they're afraid to say anything because it's embarrassing. To see this caring group of people means a lot."
Lindsay Post, DASAS sexual assault advocate, read a poem, "Strong at the Broken Places," by a survivor.
Post said April 25 will be "Denim Day" for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
"Denim Day" protests an Italian supreme court decision to overturn a rape case by wearing jeans, she said.
"Everyone knows that jeans can't be taken off by someone else, that she must have helped him," Post explained.
Pastor Melodye Surgeon Rider of Marcellus United Methodist Church led the opening prayer with palms outstretched – the opposite of fists.