As you may have read in my bio I’ve had an interesting career not just as a model, but also working as a medical crisis counselor with sexual assault victims. For over five years now I’ve worked for Rape Victim Advocates. As a medical crisis counselor I’m on call 24 hours a day to sixteen different hospital emergency rooms. This means at any moment during the day or night I may have to drop anything I’m doing and rush to any one of the 16 hospitals we cover. I provide medical, legal, and emotional information/support and direction for the survivor, their family and friends. Also, on a call I oversee all interactions the survivor has with the police, hospital, and see to it that the procedures are followed fair and correctly. Often times I accompany survivors to the police station after being at the hospital leading to some calls taking over eight hours. With the years of experience I’ve accumulated as a sexual assault counselor, I’ve found many techniques /conversations that are more effective to further recovery.

Have April come speak at your school/organization for RVA!

As well as being a medical advocate for RVA, I have also completed RVA’s Education and Training program and I would be honored to speak at any organization. Derived from my individual experiences working as a medical counselor for RVA, I bring a very real approach to each presentation. Tailored to each specific audience, I believe a comfortable but professional interactive approach to presenting is most effective. I focus on, but am not limited to; speaking about society’s take on sexual assault, date rape drugs, post traumatic stress disorder, friends and families of survivors, and my experience working with survivors.

To request April to come speak to your organization or school please click here.

What is Rape Victims Advocates? (RVA)

RVA is an Illinois not-for-profit organization made up of many individuals with two primary goals: to assure that survivors of sexual assault are treated with dignity and compassion; and to affect changes in the way the legal system, medical institutions and society as a whole respond to survivors. RVA focuses on both social service and social change. Through our presence in Chicago area emergency rooms, we provide nonjudgmental emotional support to victims of sexual violence, enabling them to become survivors. By providing basic legal and medical information, and referrals to other service organizations, we help the survivor make informed decisions. We also offer survivors continued support through telephone follow-up and our staff of counselors and legal advocates. Through these services, we enable survivors to regain control over their lives as quickly as possible. Through our work with the Chicago Police Department, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office and other area institutions, we strive to improve the treatment of survivors as a group in our society. RVA offers three distinct program areas: Counseling (individual and group), Advocacy (legal and medical) and Education & Training.

SERVICES OFFERED BY RVA

Advocacy
The Rape Victim Advocates medical advocacy program currently works with 16 Chicago-area hospitals. Our medical advocacy services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at the Emergency Rooms of one of these 16 hospitals. When a sexual assault survivor arrives at one of our contracted hospitals, the hospital pages an advocate to assist this survivor while he or she is in the ER. The advocate provides emotional support, medical and legal information, referrals and initial follow-up services to survivors and their significant others. If the survivor requests additional follow-up services, a staff advocate can provide more long-term medical and legal advocacy.

Education and Training
Rape Victim Advocates' Education and Training Department offers a variety of awareness and prevention programming throughout the city of Chicago. Working in Chicago Public Schools, community groups, social service organizations, university classrooms, and student alliances are some of the ways in which Rape Victim Advocates spreads empowerment and knowledge about sexual violence. The Education and Training Department also provides comprehensive professional training for social workers, clergy, law enforcement, university faculty and staff, and many others. Most of our trainings are tailored to fit the specific needs of our audiences. All of our educators are Illinois State Certified rape crisis counselors and have had extensive training in Sexual Violence Prevention

Counseling
Free and confidential counseling is provided by professional counselors to survivors of sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse, and incest. Survivors can receive individual, couple/family, and group counseling at RVA's Central (downtown) office or at the satellite offices located in the Austin community and the John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital Fantus Clinic. Specialized counselors are available for adolescent survivors.

The History of RVA
Rape Victim Advocates was formed in 1974 by obstetrician/gynecologist Natalie Stephens, M.D., and a group of Northwestern University medical students concerned about survivors of sexual assault. They recognized that standard hospital resources were not sufficient for the special needs of the survivor. These founding advocates educated themselves about Rape Trauma Syndrome a cluster of physical and emotional responses experienced by nearly all those who experience sexual assault, identified by Burgess and Holmstrom in the course of their work as counselors of survivors of sexual assault at Boston City Hospital, Boston Mass.

HERE'S HOW TO GET INVOLVED WITH RVA:

Volunteer! Call (312) 443-9603 to receive more information. Or you can contact us by e-mail at volunteer@rapevictimadvocates.org.

www.rapevictimadvocates.com