Volunteer victim advocates complete week-long training

  • Published
  • By Kendahl Johnson
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Six volunteers recently completed mandatory training and will soon join Kirtland's victim advocates support team.

The 40-hour training session ran the gamut of topics, including traumatization, how to respond to a sexual assault, operations and logistics, legalities and ethics, potential scenarios and various outreach programs, among others.

"We put these volunteers through some very thorough and intense training," said Pam Reeves, sexual assault response coordinator. "We tried to work through all the topics so they feel comfortable moving forward."

Victim advocates are a critical part of the response to a sexual assault, Reeves said.

When the SARC is notified of a reported sexual assault and has the victim's permission, a victim advocate is assigned. The advocate's role includes providing information about what to expect, providing emotional support and reassurance and connecting victims to other services. The advocate can provide information about available options, but it is up to the victim to decide what course of action to take.

Reeves said it was important to give the volunteers as much information on as many topics as possible so they understand how important their role is to victims.

"We want them to be fully aware of what all that position involves," she said. "Being a victim advocate is quite an investment of time and energy."

Reeves said no two cases are the same, so they continue to teach and train victim advocates and provide mentorship along the way.

"The training is really just the first step, where they are immersed into the program and deluged with information about the process," she said. "But we don't just say, 'Here you go. Now you're on your own.' We continue to work with them and provide additional guidance and instruction. They will continue to learn."

Capt. Marti Garrison, chief of 377th Air Base Wing Commander's Action Group, completed the training and said the experience was very beneficial.

"It's a difficult topic to talk about, but the SARC and her team did a phenomenal job," Garrison said.

The intent of victim advocates is solely for support of a victim, and Garrison said that was evident throughout the training.

"The training was about how to take care of the victim," she said. "Our job is to make sure we are providing everything we can to those victims, and I feel more prepared to take on the responsibility if called upon."

Garrison said she appreciated how the instruction emphasized the importance for VAs to also take care of themselves.

"Being a victim advocate can take an emotional toll," she said. "They taught us how to stay strong and how not to let our emotions get the best of us. We learned how to emotionally prepare ourselves to take on that huge responsibility."

In the new year there will be quite a few more victim advocates at Kirtland, Reeves said.

Six new victim advocates will be certified in the next few months and will join the six current certified VAs on base. Reeves said two certified VAs are transferring from other bases, and there are three on base and who have completed training but are awaiting certification.

Another 40-hour training session will likely take place in January, which will bring the number of VAs at Kirtland to about 20.

"I'm excited about having such a strong team," Reeves said.