By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services has seen a marked increase in its services.
In 2021, Options provided 859 services to sexual assault survivors in northwest Kansas. In 2022, the latest date for reporting, Options provided 1,324 services to sexual assault survivors.
The number of services provided to survivors of domestic violence also jumped in the same period.
In 2021, Options provided 5,629 domestic violence services compared to 8,340 in 2022.
Jennifer Hecker, Options executive director, said she did not think sexual and domestic violence are becoming more prevalent in the 18 counties that the agency serves in northwest Kansas.
She said she thinks more survivors are reaching out for help.
"I think people are more aware that there is help for them out there," Hecker said. "I thnk when they come to a place where first and foremost they are believed, they are more likely to stay engaged in those services, come back and work through those healing processes."
Options has made a concerted effort to increase awareness of both issues and expand access to services.
Options provides multiple services to sexual assault and domestic violence survivors. It has 24/7 crisis intervention.
"Anyone can call our helpline day or night as well as our texting line and our web chat," Hecker said. "They can reach out for help and get counseling.
"We also offer peer counseling, support groups, medical advocacy, court and legal advocacy, so if you decide to report we can help you understand what your rights are, how to get help and how to go through those processes."
In each year of 2021 and 2022, Options advocates accompanied sexual assault survivors to 33 sexual assault forensics exams at HaysMed.
"It's a big scary thing on top of a big scary thing, so we are here to hold their hand through the process one step at a time," Hecker said.
All services are free and confidential. Survivors, both female and male, do not have to report the crime to the police or submit to a sexual assault exam to receive services through Options.
"Confidentiality is our most sacredly held guiding principal because confidentiality means safety," Hecker said.
Paying the ultimate price
Options brought light to victims' needs during Crime Victims Awareness Week in April.
"We can help people understand and validate their experiences, understand the dynamics and understand how that can impact their life now, in the future and if they have children and how children are affected by that type of violence."
According to the plea agreement, Schumacher agreed to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated battery and mistreatment of a dependent adult.
Jeremiah Schumacher, Karen's son, said his father beat his mother for 40 years before her death.
Hecker said Options seeks to ensure that the voices of victims of domestic violence homicide are still heard and injustice doesn't continue.
"I think in this case, many systems failed this victim, including our own," she said, "and there are many things we can do."
Hecker urged family members who may be seeing violence to reach out to Options for assistance.
Law enforcement in Ellis County, in cooperation with Options and other partners, has developed a lethality assessment to better inform domestic violence victims about the danger they are in.
Children
The number of services Options provided to children also increased dramatically between 2021 and 2022, the latest year for which reporting was available.
In 2021, Options provided 519 services to 29 children. In 2022, 1,221 services were provided to 63 children.
Options provided 5,049 nights of safe shelter to residents of northwest Kansas who were survivors of domestic violence in 2022. Forty-four percent were provided to children.
One in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence annually — 90 percent of these children are eyewitnesses to the violence, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Busting myths
Options continues to try to bust myths about sexual assault and domestic violence. On Saturday, Options sponsored Rock Against Rape, featuring local and regional bands.
"It is to show you can get as drunk as you want to and not expect to get sexually assaulted," Anniston Weber, Options campus advocate, said. "Alcohol does not cause rape. Rapists cause rape."
Options staff members offered facts to bust myths about sexual assault during the event.
"We hear these myths like once a guy gets started, he can't stop," Hecker said. "We hear that a lot to justify date rape. Anyone who has had a private moment with their spouse and their kids come bursting through the door. No one keeps going. ...
Hecker said awareness is very important to the Options' mission.
"Part of our job is to educate the jury pool," Hecker said, "so when people report, and those reports result in charges, and those charges result in a trial that the community members, their peers, understand the dynamics whether that is domestic violence or sexual assault.
"They really understand what has happened so that they can enter a more justice-centered verdict for victims."
Only two percent of sexual assault cases end in felony convictions, Hecker said.
"Sit with that for a minute," she said. "Out of 100 women who report a sexual assault, a rape, two get justice. We are still asking the question why don't people report. I think we've answered that question.
"Why would a person go through that much trouble, humiliation, opening those wounds up over and over again to have nothing happen —to not get justice?"
Hecker said she's seen a shift in the advocacy and sexual assault prevention. Ten years ago, the focus was on women, teaching them to dress more modestly, how to walk in a dark parking lot and not leave a bar alone.
"None of the rape prevention talked to the people who were perpetrating the rapes or did anything to stop them," Hecker said.
"When you attempt to keep yourself safe and you can't because you're overwhelmed by force or fear, you feel like you failed to protect yourself. That causes deep, deep shame. When people feel shame, they stop acting in their own self-defense," she said.
Weber said destigmatizing sexual assault also helps male victims of sexual assault to come forward. Men deal with a different level of shame concerning sexual assault.
Hecker said people's bodies hold on to trauma, and that stays with them their whole lives.
"It impacts us in small and big ways, and it impacts us in ways sometimes we are aware of, and sometimes we are not," she said. "Getting connected to a support group or an advocate who can talk you through these things and validate what your experiences are, really can help open those floodgates so the healing can start. It's a journey."
How to get help
You can walk into an Options office at 2716 Plaza, Hays, or 1480 W. Fourth, Colby. You can call Options' 24-hour helpline at 1-800-794-4624 or text HOPE to 847411.
The Options website, https://help4abuse.org/, offers a live chat option or video conference with an advocate.
The website has a safe escape button that allows you to quickly close out of the website and erase your cookies, so anyone who is on the computer after you will not be able to see that you have been on the website.
Options has a free app for Android and Apple devices called "My Mobile Options."