Helping Abuse Survivors Regain Their Power

Albuquerque Civil Rights Attorney Represents Sexual Assault Survivors

Rob Rosenthal: 

How can an attorney help a victim of sexual abuse regain their power? We asked New Mexico lawyer Shannon Kennedy for this Ask The Lawyers Quick Question.

Shannon Kennedy: 

Well, the first step is to believe in the survivor and to let the survivor know that they have a safe place for telling the story about what happened to them. It's very important that civil rights attorneys and that sex crimes detectives and anyone who comes in contact with the survivor of sexual abuse knows how to listen to and how to be present for and how to attend to one's client in the storytellers. That's the central part of a successful civil rights complaint. So the first step is to listen and not to retraumatize and to protect someone through the process of standing up for oneself through whether it be the criminal or civil justice system.

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