{"id":2527,"date":"2016-01-08T16:41:56","date_gmt":"2016-01-08T16:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/safehorizon.wpengine.com\/?p=2527"},"modified":"2017-10-03T17:28:03","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T17:28:03","slug":"suzannes-story-escaping-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/stories\/suzannes-story-escaping-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Suzanne’s Story: Escaping Crime"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Suzanne's<\/p>\n

Getting along with her neighbors was difficult for *Suzanne, especially since they constantly harassed her, threatened her life and the lives of her children. The harassment had escalated to violence, and the neighbors attacked her young daughter. Her daughter managed to escape them and to run to her family\u2019s apartment for safety, but the attackers followed close behind, and banged on the door until Suzanne finally opened it. When she did, one of the attackers lifted his shirt and flashed his gun at her.<\/p>\n

He did it to scare Suzanne out of calling the police, and it worked. Soon afterward, Suzanne\u2019s neighbors began stalking her and her children while continuing to harass and threaten them. They motioned their fingers at them as if they were shooting them, and warned them to watch themselves.<\/p>\n

Suzanne could no longer take living with her abusive, dangerous neighbors. She and her family should have been able to live in their community without fearing that their lives were in danger. Yet they were intimidated, threatened, and attacked, and had become too afraid even to go outside. That\u2019s why she came to our Criminal Court Program<\/a> office, desperately hoping to get away from the terror she and her family had to endure.<\/p>\n

Finding Help at Safe Horizon’s Court Program<\/h2>\n

Our staff sat down with Suzanne and listened to her story. Suzanne wanted to relocate, but needed to plan a way to keep her family safe until she could actually move. We helped her create a safety plan and explore options such as filing a police report, getting emergency housing assistance, and applying for financial assistance to help with the move. Suzanne had only filed one police report for the assault on her daughter. She had not reported those other incidents because she was too afraid that her neighbors would retaliate.<\/p>\n

We explained that Suzanne could receive emergency housing assistance, but she would need to file police reports. We also explained that should her neighbors continue their harassment, without a previous record about it, the police would not be able to arrest them. Suzanne decided to file the police reports.<\/p>\n

Once she did, we helped Suzanne receive status as an \u201cIntimidated Victim\u201d which made it possible for her to get emergency assistance more quickly. In less than a month, Suzanne had found a new apartment, and with our advocacy, she was able to receive emergency funds to help her pay for moving expenses.<\/p>\n

Keeping Suzanne’s Family Safe<\/h2>\n

As Suzanne and her family prepared to move, our staff worked with her to create a new safety plan, just in case her neighbors found out where she would live. We also provided a letter to Suzanne\u2019s employer, explaining her family\u2019s situation and requesting time for her to move her family to a safer place.<\/p>\n

With Safe Horizon’s help, Suzanne gained the safety she and her family deserved. Suzanne also learned that in addition to getting help from the police, she could also depend on Safe Horizon to provide her with the tools she needed during her time of crisis. Suzanne and her family now have a new apartment and a new neighborhood, and they know if they ever need us again, we will be there to help.<\/p>\n

* Client names and identifying information have been changed to protect their privacy. Images used are representations of Safe Horizon\u2019s clients.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Suzanne was afraid for her and her family’s safety, our Criminal Court Program was there to help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":{"id":1173,"alt_text":"Suzanne's Story: Escaping Crime","caption":"","description":"Suzanne's Story: Escaping Crime","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":440,"height":199,"file":"2016\/06\/1386270660_suzanne_story.jpg","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"1386270660_suzanne_story-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","ewww_image_optimizer":"Reduced by 6.7% (456.0 B)","source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/1386270660_suzanne_story-150x150.jpg"},"medium":{"file":"1386270660_suzanne_story-300x136.jpg","width":300,"height":136,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","ewww_image_optimizer":"Reduced by 5.5% (572.0 B)","source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/1386270660_suzanne_story-300x136.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]},"ewww_image_optimizer":"Reduced by 0.8% (184.0 B)"},"post":745,"source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/1386270660_suzanne_story.jpg"},"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[649,290],"class_list":["post-2527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-criminal-court-program","tag-stalking","issue-stalking"],"acf":{"page_header_title":"Suzanne's Story: Escaping Crime","page_header_excerpt":"","page_header_image":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/silhouette_hero_image.png","related_initiative_title":"How we help people like Suzanne","related_initiative_link":"\/our-services\/legal-and-court-help\/criminal-court-programs\/","related_initiative_link_text":"Learn about our Criminal Court Program","featured_posts":[{"ID":3707,"post_author":"13","post_date":"2017-01-01 14:36:15","post_date_gmt":"2017-01-01 14:36:15","post_content":"By Dr. Amanda Stylianou<\/em>\r\nJanuary 1, 2017<\/em>\r\n\r\nTo raise awareness and speak about stalking, I will discuss the impact stalking has on individuals and the resources and tools available to support survivors.\r\n

Natalia\u2019s Story<\/h1>\r\n*Natalia was experiencing stalking from her son\u2019s father when she came to the Safe Horizon Bronx Family Court Program to obtain an order of protection.\r\n\r\n\u201cMy son\u2019s father he\u2019s been really aggressive\u2026He\u2019s been coming to my house, he\u2019s been having me followed. My boyfriend and I, he\u2019s been following us. He\u2019s making threats\u2026.I\u2019m being threatened and he\u2019s threatening my boyfriend and contacting my family and things like that. It\u2019s just uncalled for and I don\u2019t feel safe\u2026He has threatened to murder me\u2026He has threatened to, to also cause harm to my family if I guess we go against whatever he is trying to do\u2026He has taken my son out of state and refused to bring him back until he was ready\u2026I\u2019m a woman. I cannot protect myself against a man, you know, but so far or but so much. And it\u2019s just something I don\u2019t think I should have to worry about\u2026He makes references that, you know, like he sees me, he sees me doing this, or he sees me at this place\u2026and it\u2019s just like the only way you could be at all these places, that you know, I\u2019m here is if you\u2019re following me\u2026It\u2019s just enough is enough.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\r\n\r\nAnd at Safe Horizon, we hear stories like Natalia\u2019s every day of the year.\r\n

Learn More About Stalking<\/h1>\r\nStalking is a pattern of repeated and unwanted attention, harassment, contact, or any other course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. Stalking can include a vast array of behaviors including:\r\n