Read the original article here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Safe Horizon’s Eri Kim helps debunk the rapist stereotype and how our fundamental understanding of rape is flawed and needs to change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":{"id":9685,"alt_text":"Support children and families in domestic violence shelters","caption":"Peggy Duffy Memorial fund","description":"Support children and families in domestic violence shelters","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":512,"height":512,"file":"2022\/07\/Safe-Horizon-Flower-Logo_TransparentThumbnail.png","filesize":31715,"sizes":{"medium":{"file":"Safe-Horizon-Flower-Logo_TransparentThumbnail-300x300.png","width":300,"height":300,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":18595,"source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Safe-Horizon-Flower-Logo_TransparentThumbnail-300x300.png"},"thumbnail":{"file":"Safe-Horizon-Flower-Logo_TransparentThumbnail-150x150.png","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":8008,"source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Safe-Horizon-Flower-Logo_TransparentThumbnail-150x150.png"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"post":9684,"source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Safe-Horizon-Flower-Logo_TransparentThumbnail.png"},"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[103,105],"class_list":["post-5300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-safe-horizon-in-the-news","tag-rape","tag-sexual-assault","issue-rape-and-sexual-assault"],"acf":{"page_header_title":"","page_header_image":false,"page_header_excerpt":"","original_url":"","related_initiative_title":"How do we help survivors of rape and sexual assault?","related_initiative_link":"\/get-help\/rape-and-sexual-assault","related_initiative_link_text":"Learn about our services","featured_posts":[{"ID":1369,"post_author":"12","post_date":"2016-05-26 00:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2016-05-26 00:00:00","post_content":"*Warning: This story contains details of a sexual assault that some readers may find disturbing<\/em>.<\/em>\r\n\r\n![\"Donna](\"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Donna-Will-Never-Forget-How-Eri-Kim-Helped-Her.png\")
<\/center>\r\n\u201cI will never forget the first thing that *Eri said to me when I sat down with her for my first counseling session, \u2018You are never alone and it is not your fault\u2019<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\r\nFor *Donna, those words came at a time when she needed to hear them most. Before meeting Eri, Donna was suffering recurring and traumatic memories of being sexually and physically assaulted around her office building and felt extremely alone.\r\n\r\nPeople respond very differently to trauma caused by sexual assault. Donna responded to the trauma by avoiding the overwhelming negative responses that flooded her thoughts. \u201cI first avoided going to a place like Safe Horizon because I did not want to talk about what I had experienced and how that horrible attack had affected me and affected my life.<\/em>\u201d\r\n\r\nNow Donna looks back and is grateful she came to Safe Horizon and met Eri. \u201cBefore Safe Horizon, I felt helpless and hopeless. Eri\u2019s words gave me a positive outlook for my future. I have something to look forward to every time we meet because I believe that she is not just a social worker, but someone who genuinely cared about me as a person.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\n![\"Safe](\"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Safe-Horizons-Community-Programs.png\")
<\/center> \r\nSafe Horizon\u2019s Community Programs support, educate, and advocate for victims of crime and abuse including rape and sexual assault.<\/em><\/em>\r\n<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\u201cSomeone who Genuinely Cared about Me\u201d<\/h1>\r\nDonna met Eri at our Brooklyn Community Program. Serving all five boroughs of New York City, each warm and welcoming Community Program supports, educates, and advocates for all victims of crime and abuse, including rape and sexual assault. Since Donna found it difficult to open up, Eri reassured her that she would fully support her. \u201cEri provided me with tools, resources, and information that helped me cope with my recurring memories of that horrible experience.<\/em>\u201d\r\n\r\nAs Donna\u2019s story illustrates, recovering from a traumatic event takes time, and everyone heals at his or her own pace. Safe Horizon integrates trauma-informed techniques in working with individuals who encounter all types of crime and violence. Our staff utilize a variety of \u201cgrounding\u201d techniques that can be used for people who are dealing with feelings of reliving past trauma to remind them that they are in a safe place.\u00a0The techniques can help individuals cope with the emotional pain caused by something happening in the present that reminds them of the past traumatic event.\r\n\r\nEri guided Donna through a grounding technique to help Donna connect to her physical body and stay in the present moment. Donna says the technique was instrumental to her healing, \u201cexercises like grounding have changed my life and how I handle uncomfortable, anxious, or depressing situations.<\/em>\u201d\r\n\r\n![\"Social](\"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Social-Workers-like-Eri-Provide-Surrportive-Counseling-and-Advocacy-Services.png\")
<\/center>\r\nSocial workers like Eri work at every Community Program, providing supportive counseling and advocacy services.<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\nFrom Victim to Victor<\/h1>\r\nDonna says she has re-claimed her positive outlook and is looking forward to moving on with her life. \u201cSince I started talking with Eri, I feel better about myself. I went back to living my life the way it was before I was attacked. I wake up in the morning and plan to do something special for myself every day.\"\r\n<\/em><\/em>\r\n\r\n