The Foundation at Mission Regional Medical Center
Recently, I had the great privilege of visiting with Linda Ledray, R.N., Ph.D., SANE-A, FAAN. She is a living legend in the field of Sexual Assault Programs, not only in the United States, but around the world, where she has helped develop service provider programs for victims in places such as Haiti, Bosnia, and Cambodia. Linda has literally written the book on Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner programs, and founded the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN). This month, she came to Mission as an expert consultant to make sure our program is performing well and appropriately.
When I sat down with Linda, one of the first things I learned is that every rapist is a serial rapist. This startled me, because it means that most perpetrators of sexual violence are not "caught" the first time they offend. Rather, research has shown that male college students admit to using physical force to get what they want an average of seven times. This is a group of young men one would not normally consider "criminal," yet their behavior certainly is....
Nationwide, sexual assault is the most under-reported crime known to law enforcement, and it may be more so in Hidalgo County due to drug, gang, and smuggler violence associated with the South Texas border region. Statistically, a county of one million residents should report the sexual assault of 500 victims annually—or 50 victims/100,000 persons. Regretably, we are confident our program has the potential to serve more than 500 children and adults each year, and that the need for acute, medical forensic services will continue to grow.
Since the SANE Program began in mid-December, 2009, the Forensic Unit has treated more than 130 victims. These victims have been referred primarily by local law enforcement agencies, as the hospital has not launched public service announcements to date. In order to educate law enforcement about the program, The Foundation presents at the Sexual Assault Family Violence Investigators Course, as well as the Advanced Child Abuse Investigators Course, whenever these state certification classes are made available in the Rio Grande Valley. The program also operates a Sexual Assault Response Team that meets monthly to facilitate communication and discuss on-going investigations with 22 local law enforcement agencies, the district attorney’s office, the rape crisis center, and crime victim’s liaisons.
Dr. Ledray explained the importance of this triad approach to the success of S.A.N.E. Programs, and the positive impact they have. Effective programs, she stated, not only provide medical forensic services, but also communicate with law enforcement, and connect victims to advocates and social services that provide counseling, shelter, and support. Research has shown that where S.A.N.E. Programs operate well and efficiently, victims begin to recover more quickly from physical injuries, suffer fewer symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other psychiatric issues, cooperate more readily with law enforcement in the prosecution of perpetrators, and return to school and work sooner. Furthermore, S.A.N.E. Programs significantly impact the health and integrity of communities by removing predators, sexual sadists and rapists from the streets, and putting them behind bars, thanks to DNA and other forensic evidence that increase the rate of criminal prosecution and successful conviction.
In response to demand for services, our program recently hired a second adult and child certified S.A.N.E. to keep up with the growing volume of victims. With each victim, the program incurs costs for goods and services that are not covered by the Texas Attorney General’s Crime Victim’s Assistance Fund. For example, children are not provided comfort items, such as a stuffed animal to clutch during their physical examination, unless one is provided by the unit; pre-teen girls who have started their menstrual cycle are not provided emergency contraception; and victims are not given underwear or clothes to wear when they leave the unit, after their belongings are collected as evidence, unless the program provides these things. These are just a few examples of needs that might be funded by donations to the S.A.N.E. Program, at present.
Mission Regional Medical Center has made a significant investment in the Forensic Unit and the S.A.N.E. Program, for the benefit of the communities we serve. Your support will help our organization fulfill its mission to treat victims of sexual violence with dignity. To learn more about the program, or how you can help, please call 956-323-1102.
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