FROM S.A. IN CACHE COUNTY

Dear Utah,

My name is Shaun Anderson and I am a victim advocate in the Utah State University Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Information Office (SAAVI). As a victim advocate, my role is to support survivors of any kind of interpersonal violence, and often that includes cases of domestic and dating violence. I work with victims to help them navigate their legal options, to connect them with emotional and community support, and to help them find the resources that they need to rebuild their lives after making the difficult decision to leave an abusive partner.

When I stepped into this role, I knew—like everyone knows—that domestic and dating violence are terrible things. But I didn't understand the scope of the damage that domestic and dating violence causes. I have learned through my work supporting survivors that domestic and dating violence impacts every aspect of a person's life. It impacts housing, performance at work, transportation, physical and emotional well-being, academic performance, children's lives, and a person's ability to form healthy, trusting relationships. 

If we want to build communities that truly support survivors of domestic and dating violence, we need resources to help individual rebuild their lives after some of the deepest betrayal that human beings can experience. We need to collectively decide to give one another grace because we may not even know that someone is experiencing domestic or dating violence. We need to recognize that each of us has the capacity to cause harm, and individually take accountability for the harm we cause.

Thank you for all that you are doing to support survivors. The work is not over,

Shaun Anderson