On June 28th Voice of Hope will be putting on a session about sex trafficking going on in West Texas. The Brownfield Police Department will be hosting them in their training room from 12 pm-1 pm and a repeat of that session will take place that afternoon from 5:30 pm-6:30 pm.
Voice of Hope Lubbock Rape Crisis Center was established in 1975. After one of the city council’s staff was raped in the parking lot after work; she found a gap in the reporting process that lead to the creation of the Voice of Hope. They now offer 8 services free to survivors of sexual assault and sex trafficking. The services include a 24-hour Crisis Hotline, 24-hour Medical Accompaniment, 24 Hour Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Service, Counseling Services, Law Enforcement Accompaniment, Case Follow Up & Referral, Judicial Accompaniment, and Community Education/Prevention.
24-Hour Crisis Hotline: the Voice of hope has trained and certified staff and volunteers that answer the sexual assault and sex trafficking hotline. All of their staff/volunteers are trained and certified through the Office of the Attorney-general.
24-Hour Medical Accompaniment, Law Enforcement Accompaniment, and Judicial Accompaniment: The staff and volunteers of Voice of Hope are dedicated to the survivors of sexual assault and sex trafficking and are by their side throughout the medical, reporting, and judicial processes. VOH will provide advocacy throughout the forensic sexual assault medical exam and provides the survivors with information and referral packets. They also provide personal care packages and furnish clothes when necessary. An advocate will accompany the victim when giving their initial statements to a police officer and when giving their formal statement to the detective assigned to their case. The staff is available to answer any questions the survivor might have about the court process and will go to the court to offer moral support and even to testify when the need arises.
Counseling Services: Voice of Hope offers individual and group therapy sessions for the survivors of sexual assault/sex trafficking survivors and non-offending family members affected. All of the counseling services are provided by a licensed therapist and services are free of charge.
Case Follow-Up & Referral: Three to five days after the initial hospital visit VOH follows up with the survivors to make sure they are doing all right and offers to schedule an appointment to assist with Crime Victim’s Compensation paperwork. They also encourage the survivors to have follow-up testing. At this time they will also schedule counseling appointments with sexual assault therapeutic counselors if the survivor’s wishes.
Community Education/Prevention: VOH strives to educate Lubbock and its surrounding communities on sexual assault/sex trafficking and Sexual Assault prevention for all ages.
