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New Grassroots Campaign: Victims Get Vocal Helps Bring Justice to Sexual Abuse Victims
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Nov. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A growing grassroots initiative under the name Victims Get Vocal is drawing attention to rape and abuse victims whose offenders remain un-charged. Their spokesperson, Zoie Brown, 18, a sexual abuse survivor, is speaking out about her molestation in an effort to help others tell their story and find justice. Zoie started her campaign based on a lack of action by the Santa Barbara District Attorney.
Her case is not typical. At the age of 14, despite threats of violence from her abuser, Zoie found the courage to tell her teacher who then reported him to Child Welfare Services. He fled shortly thereafter. Before he was named one of America's Most Wanted, captured, and sent to prison for fraud, Zoie reported her sexual molestation to the Sheriff and the Santa Barbara District Attorney. Although they have corroborating evidence against him, they refuse to charge him, citing a lack of physical evidence. Today, her abuser walks free untried for these allegations.
"How is a twelve-year-old girl in fear for her life going to provide physical evidence?" Zoie asks. "This is why most child molesters walk free: our justice system does not support victimized children." The statistics are frightening: 1 out of 3 girls and 1 out of 6 boys are sexually molested before the age of 18. Most of their abusers remain unpunished. "This needs to change. The child molesters are winning," states Zoie.
Zoie started a website, Victims Get Vocal (http://www.victimsgetvocal.com), to serve as a forum for sexually abused children. She says, "This is an extremely difficult situation for children, dealing with the fact that their molesters will never be charged. We need to stand together and encourage the judicial system to hear us out."
Along with her campaign, Zoie has started an online petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/help-zoie-find-justice, and manages a blog, http://zoiesstory.wordpress.com. In her blog she sheds light on some of the reasons these men are not charged including how the state uses the California Freeze and Seize Law to plea bargain with criminals.
Contact:
Megan Stander
contact@victimsgetvocal.com
Ph: (805) 617-4984
http://www.victimsgetvocal.com
This press release was issued through eReleases(R). For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.
SOURCE Victims Get Vocal
Victims Get Vocal
Web Site: http://www.victimsgetvocal.com
New Grassroots Campaign: Victims Get Vocal Helps Bring Justice to Sexual Abuse Victims
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Nov. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A growing grassroots initiative under the name Victims Get Vocal is drawing attention to rape and abuse victims whose offenders remain un-charged. Their spokesperson, Zoie Brown, 18, a sexual abuse survivor, is speaking out about her molestation in an effort to help others tell their story and find justice. Zoie started her campaign based on a lack of action by the Santa Barbara District Attorney.
Her case is not typical. At the age of 14, despite threats of violence from her abuser, Zoie found the courage to tell her teacher who then reported him to Child Welfare Services. He fled shortly thereafter. Before he was named one of America's Most Wanted, captured, and sent to prison for fraud, Zoie reported her sexual molestation to the Sheriff and the Santa Barbara District Attorney. Although they have corroborating evidence against him, they refuse to charge him, citing a lack of physical evidence. Today, her abuser walks free untried for these allegations.
"How is a twelve-year-old girl in fear for her life going to provide physical evidence?" Zoie asks. "This is why most child molesters walk free: our justice system does not support victimized children." The statistics are frightening: 1 out of 3 girls and 1 out of 6 boys are sexually molested before the age of 18. Most of their abusers remain unpunished. "This needs to change. The child molesters are winning," states Zoie.
Zoie started a website, Victims Get Vocal (http://www.victimsgetvocal.com), to serve as a forum for sexually abused children. She says, "This is an extremely difficult situation for children, dealing with the fact that their molesters will never be charged. We need to stand together and encourage the judicial system to hear us out."
Along with her campaign, Zoie has started an online petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/help-zoie-find-justice, and manages a blog, http://zoiesstory.wordpress.com. In her blog she sheds light on some of the reasons these men are not charged including how the state uses the California Freeze and Seize Law to plea bargain with criminals.
Contact:
Megan Stander
contact@victimsgetvocal.com
Ph: (805) 617-4984
http://www.victimsgetvocal.com
This press release was issued through eReleases(R). For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.
SOURCE Victims Get Vocal
Victims Get Vocal
Web Site: http://www.victimsgetvocal.com