PROJECT WALK ACROSS OREGON:
TO
RAISE AWARENESS AND SUPPORT FOR ELIMINATING OREGON'S STATUTE OF
LIMITATIONS ON SEXUAL ABUSE SURVIVORS
Why:
We want to inspire people across Oregon into action to prevent
child sex abuse and care for the survivors of sex abuse. Our
ideas include:
1. Raising funds to
provide therapy for survivors of child sex abuse through
Wintre’s Wishes Foundation (www.wintreswishes.org).
2. Providing private
support, group support and community support for survivors of
child sex abuse (www.compassionategathering.org).
3. Building support for
a House Bill that will come before the legislature in early 2009
to raise the statute of limitations on certain sex crimes
including child sex abuse to twenty-five years.
What Else
Can We Do?
Where:
We will start in Ashland, Oregon, on September 1, 2008, and end
in Portland tentatively on September 29, 2008.
Who:
Survivors of sex abuse and clergy abuse, family members or
survivors and supporters from the community.
Wintre’s Wishes
(www.wintreswishes.org)
Compassionate Gathering
(www.compassionategathering.org)
National Association to
Prevent Sex Abuse of Children (www.napsac.org)
Contact:
Virginia Jones,
childhood sex abuse and rape survivor and spokeswoman for the
Walk Across Oregon, co-founder of Compassionate Gathering (cell:
503-866-6163 & e-mail:
compassion500@aol.com)
Matt Nees,
Co-founder, Wintre’s Wishes Foundation,
mattn@wintreswishes.org
or 503-780-1965.
Special Guest:
Steve Fearing is the survivor of clergy sex abuse whose
lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Portland lasted nine years
and set legal precedent in the state of Oregon allowing
survivors of sex abuse to file civil lawsuits against their
abusers within three years of realizing that they were harmed by
the abuse they suffered as children. Steve can be contacted at
his e-mail address:
s_fearing@yahoo.com.
Donations are
accepted.
Tentative
Itinerary for Walk Across Oregon
September 1,
Monday -- Day 1
Ashland towards Medford. Walkers in Ashland
include Virginia Jones and an anonymous mother of two
survivors. We will start on Ashland Street by Albertsons at 8
AM and walk to Siskiyou Boulevard to Triangle Park. We will be
at Triangle Park at 9:30 AM. Then we will proceed along Highway
99/South Riverside Drive towards Medford. We will rest at
Annie’s Cafe at 723 Main Street in Phoenix at 4 PM.
September 2,
Tuesday -- Day 2
Through Medford on Old 99 to Blackwell Road to Gold Hill. We will be at
Mellelo Coffee at 205 S. Central Avenue in Medford at 9 AM.
September 3,
Wednesday -- Day 3
Gold Hill to Rogue River on Old 99. We will be at Patti’s Kitchen on 175
2nd Avenue in Gold Hill at 9 AM.
September 4,
Thursday -- Day 4
Rogue River to Grants Pass on Old 99. We will be at the junction where
Rogue River Highway meets Depot Street at 8 AM.
September 5,
Friday -- Day 5
Canyonville segment on Old 99. We will be at Oregon Sunshine Espresso at
340 N. Main Street in Canyonville at 8 AM. Myrtle Creek segment
on Old 99. We will be at Suzies at 920 Old Pacific Highway in
Myrtle Creek at 3 PM.
September 6,
Saturday -- Day 6
We will start where Old Highway 99 branches off of I-5 and walk through
Dillard to Winston. We will be at Sister’s Cafe at 60 SE Main
Street in Winston at 4 PM. Virginia Jones is available to speak
with the media.
September 7,
Sunday -- Day 7
Winston to Roseburg. We will start at 8 AM in Winston at Sister’s Cafe
at 60 SE Main Street and walk to Roseburg along Old 99. At 3 PM
we will be at the Dairy Queen at 433 NE Stephens Street in
Roseburg. Virginia Jones will be available to speak with the
media.
September 8,
Monday -- Day 8
Roseburg to halfway to Sutherlin along Old 99. We will start at 7 AM at
Gotta Hava Java at 1072 NE Stephens Street in Roseburg.
September 9,
Tuesday -- Day 9
Halfway to Sutherlin to Oakland along Old 99. We will be at Digger Don’s
Diner at 157 N. State Street in Sutherlin at 11 AM.
September 10
Wednesday Day 10
We will start at the I-5 turnoff to Drain on Old Highway 99 at 7 AM. We
will walk on Old 99/Eagle Valley Road; we will be at the
Yoncalla Deli at 134 Main Street in Yoncalla at 11 AM.
September 11
Thursday -- Day 11
Drain to I-5 on Old 99/ Umpqua Valley Highway.
September 12
Friday -- Day 12
We will start at 7 AM where the Goshen Divide Highway branches off of I-5
and walk on Old 99/ Goshen Divide Highway to Cottage Grove.
September 13
Saturday -- Day 13
Cottage Grove to Cresswell along old 99. We will start at CG Deli at 605
5th Street in Cottage Grove at 8 AM and then walk to Cresswell.
September 14
Sunday -- Day 14
Meet clergy abuse survivor, Steve Fearing, and the mother of two sex
abuse survivors at 9 AM in at the Country Cafe at 121 North Mill
Street in Cresswell. Steve and others will walk to Springfield
along Old 99. We will be at the edge of the baseball field in
James Park on Franklin Boulevard and East 19th Avenue near
Springfield, Oregon, at 4 PM. Steve is available to speak with
the media.
September 15
Monday -- Day 15
Springfield Through Eugene along Old 99. We will be at The Original
Pancake House at 782 East Broadway (Highway 99) in Eugene at 11
AM. At Noon we will walk along Old 99 towards Junction City.
Virginia Jones will be available to speak to the media.
September 16
Tuesday -- Day 16
Eugene to Junction City along Highway 99. We will be at Stockman’s Cafe
at 92380 Highway 99 S in Junction City at 1 PM.
September 17
Wednesday-- Day 17
Junction City to 99W to Corvallis. We will start at Nina’s Pony Express
at 1280 Ivy Street in Junction City at 7 AM. Then we will walk
the 99 West route to Corvallis
September 18
Thursday -- Day 18
We will be at Red Horse Coffee on 310 SW Third in Corvallis at 10:30 AM.
We will start walking along old Highway 99 West to above Adair
Village. Virginia Jones will be available to speak with the
media.
September 19
Friday -- Day 19
Above
Adair Village to Monmouth
September 20
Saturday -- Day 20
We will meet at 9 AM in the Burgerville in Monmouth where Highway 99 West
meets Highway 51. We will walk to Independence and be at Polk
Marine Park at 12 Noon. Then we will walk towards Salem on
Highway 51.
September 21
Sunday -- Day 21
We will start at the south end of Commercial Street in Salem at 9 AM and
walk along Commercial Street. We will pass through Pringle Park
at 11 AM. Where Liberty branches off Commercial Street, we
will walk along Liberty Street and be at Coffee House Cafe at
135 Liberty Street NE at 1 PM. After a break we will continue
along Commercial Street and the route of Highway 99 East. We
will turn right from Liberty to Center Street, turn left to
Summer Street and walk along Summer Street. From Summer Street
we will turn right to Fairgrounds Road and continue along
Fairgrounds Road to Portland Road. Virginia Jones and Steve
Fearing will be available to speak with the media.
September 22
Monday -- Day 22
Salem to Gervais along Portland Road/Old 99, We will be at The Original
Pancake House at 4685 Portland Road in Salem at 7 AM.
September 23
Tuesday -- Day 23
Gervais to Hubbard and beyond along Old Highway 99. We will be at Cactus
Grille Tacqueria at 1032 N. Pacific Highway in Woodburn at 1 PM.
September 24
Wednesday -- Day 24
Hubbard to Canby, Steve Fearing will be available to speak to the media
in Canby. We will be at Yum Yum Espresso at 145 SW 1st in
Canby.
September 25
Thursday -- Day 25
Canby to Oregon City
September 26
Friday-- Day 26
Oregon City along McGloughlin Boulevard to Portland. We will be in the
Waterfront Park in Milwaukie, Oregon, at 11 AM. Virginia Jones
will be available to speak with the media at that time.
September 27
Saturday -- Day 27
From Martin Luther King to Willamette Esplanade by OMSI. We will be meet
on the Willamette Esplanade by OMSI, walk north along the
Esplanade, cross the steel bridge pedestrian walkway connecting
Esplanade to Waterfront Park. At 11 AM we will be at the
Japanese American Plaza next to the turn off to the Steel Bridge
from Naito Parkway. Steve Fearing, Virginia Jones and Matt Nees
will be available to speak to the media. We will continue
walking along the Waterfront to Yamhill Street and then proceed
along Yamhill to Pioneer Square. We will finish by walking
along Broadway to Grand Avenue.
September 28
Sunday -- Day 28
Grand Avenue to Martin Luther King Boulevard, media with Steve Fearing,
Virginia Jones and Matt Nees.
Background
Information:
Children are more
vulnerable than ever to sex abuse. Although abuse has always
been with us, today internet pornography and internet chat rooms
provide new avenues of access to exploit children. These avenues
also help people with unhealthy compulsions easily find others
who validate their proclivities.
Although some survivors are able to overcome childhood trauma
and lead productive lives, the lives of many others are
devastated by abuse. Problems survivors suffer include
alcoholism, drug addiction, chronic depression, thoughts of
suicide, low self esteem, anxiety, outbursts of anger, problems
with touch, inability to enjoy sex, addiction to sex. Many
survivors struggle finding and keeping jobs or finding and
keeping relationships. Some trust others too little. Others
trust too much and have trouble protecting themselves from
further exploitation. Many prostitutes and porn stars were
sexually abused as children. Other survivors can be found among
the homeless or the attendees at Alcoholics Anonymous and
Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Many survivors are so burdened by
their losses that they are unable to pay for the therapy they
need for healing.
Studies indicate that 1
in 4 girls will be sexually abused before the age of fourteen.
For boys the figure is 1 in 6 or 7. At least 90% of reported
crimes are committed by someone close to the family. Despite
increased awareness and education about abuse, most survivors do
not come forward until the they are old enough or strong enough
to speak out about it. The result is 88% of child sex abuse
crimes still go unreported.
Most
people think that sexually abusing a child is a horrible crime,
but when someone respected is accused of abuse, many recoil from
the painful truth. We can’t believe that Granddad or the
reverend or the popular school teacher could do such a thing.
People sometimes show more support for the abuser than for the
abused child or adult survivor. This leaves the survivor feeling
alone and unsupported. Sometimes the abuser is so manipulative
and threatening, the victim is too terrified to come forward for
decades. In other cases the child doesn't identify what happened
as abuse. Only after struggling with multiple problems as an
adult, the survivor realizes that they have been abused. Many
survivors never tell anyone out of shame and guilt.
Unfortunately those who do come forward are sometimes told,
“Just get over it. Why can’t you forgive, forget and move on?”
These attitudes rewound the survivor, pushing him or her deeper
into silence.
If a state has a
statute of limitations on criminal prosecution of sex abuse,
there is no recourse for the victims who come forward as adults,
and the unprosecuted abusers are allowed to continue abusing.
Presently, Oregon is one of 34 states in the nation that sets
statutes of limitations on sexual abuse crimes. Child sex abuse
advocates note that murder has no statute of limitations and
believe that child sex abuse is equally heinous and should not
be restricted by a statute of limitations. Therefore we believe
that the state of Oregon should raise statute of limitations for
sexual abuse crimes to give more time for survivors to come
forward.
We feel that we need to
do everything we can to both prevent child sex abuse and to
support those who have suffered. Join or support the Walk Across
Oregon in our efforts to raise awareness about this issue, to
nurture emotional support for survivors
(www.compassionategathering.org), to raise funds to provide
therapy for survivors who can’t afford therapy
(www.wintreswishes.org), and to pass a bill in the 2009 Oregon
Legislature that will raise the statue of limitations for
criminal prosecution of sexual abuse to twenty five years
(www.napsac.org).