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She was in ninth grade. Her parents were concerned; she had gone out on a
date and was way overdue. Her entire family spread out over the little rural
community looking for her.
She had gone with her boyfriend to a "Kegger" in the woods. After
getting her drunk, he had taken her for a "romantic" walk deeper
into the woods, and there he had raped her.
Big sister, a senior in high school, found her and took her safely home.
The only thing she wanted to do was take a shower and burn her clothes.
Her parents, in a near panic themselves, raised no objections.
It was big sister who raised a voice of wisdom. "No," she said, "That
would destroy the evidence. We need to take her straight to the hospital
for a rape exam. She'll need a change of clothes; they'll keep
the clothes she's wearing to gather evidence from. The police will
meet us there. We should also call the local Rape Crisis Center, they'll
have someone meet us there."
How did big sister know what to do? I had addressed her health class the
year before. Thanks to her sister stepping in and taking charge, a Crisis
Intervention Counselor was at the scene to help start her on the road to
healing, the evidence was not destroyed, and the police were able to build
a solid case against her boyfriend.
A small victory? Yes, but a victory nevertheless!
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