Case of Lewis K. Cohen

Case of Lewis K. Cohen

(AKA: Keith Cohen, Lewis Cohen, Lewis Keith Cohen)

Milwaukee, WI

Professor of Comparative Literature - University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Convicted after being charged with using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime and child enticement-exposing sex organs.  Cohen used his work and home computers to engage in sexually explicit conversations with a 14-year-old boy in Internet chat rooms. The complaint also charges that Cohen sent nude photographs of himself and other males to the boy via e-mail.

Cohen is currently incarcerated.

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Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs.

Table of Contents:

2005

1. UW professor charged with Net sex crime  (03/24/2005)
2. UW Felon Still Working On Campus  (09/19/2005)
3. UW Panel Hears Professor Appeals (12/11/2005)

2006

1. Wisconsin State Sex Offender Registry (04/23/2006)
2. Update on UW-Madison employees convicted of felonies  (04/07/2006)

2013

1. Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry (11/06/2013)
2. National Sex Offender Registry (11/06/2013)

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UW professor Charged with Net sex crime
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - March 24, 2005

A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor was charged with using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime and child enticement-exposing sex organs.

According to the criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Lewis K. Cohen, 59, of Madison used his work and home computers to engage in sexually explicit conversations with a 14-year-old Greendale boy in Internet chat rooms. The complaint also charges that Cohen sent nude photographs of himself and other males to the boy via e-mail.

If convicted on both counts, Cohen faces up to 50 years in prison.

The boy's mother found the e-mails and called police in early March.

The boy told investigators he stopped chatting with Cohen after getting the nude photos because the boy thought "it was kind of disgusting."

According to the complaint, during at least one e-mail exchange the boy told Cohen he was 14 years old and Cohen replied, "If you're only 14, we could never hook up, but it might be fun to keep chatting."

Cohen never had any physical contact with the boy, according to the complaint.

Milwaukee police went into the chat rooms under the boy's user name and continued conversations with Cohen. On March 15, Cohen agreed to meet the boy at a sandwich shop in the 3900 block of S. 76th St., where he was arrested, the complaint says.

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UW Felon Still Working On Campus
27 News (ABC) -  September 19, 2005 

27 News has uncovered UW-Madison literature professor Lewis Cohen, a convicted sex offender, works on campus as part of a state work release program and has access to student records.

"To give this person, who's been convicted of a serious crime against children, access to student records, simply doesn't make sense," Rep. Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford) told 27 News.

"This offender should not be on campus," said Rep. Samantha Kerkman (R-Burlington).

Kerkman, Suder and several other state lawmakers have criticized UW officials for their allegedly slow response to the felony convictions of Cohen, medical school professor Roberto Coronado and associate medical school professor Steven Clark. Coronado was convicted of several first degree sexual assaults of a child and is serving an eight year prison sentence. Clark was convicted of felony stalking and is serving one year in the Dane County jail.

In July, Cohen was convicted of exposing a child to harmful materials. Court documents state Cohen transmitted nude photographs of himself and other men to a 14 year old Greendale boy, and was arrested when he arranged what he believed would be a rendezvous with the boy.

Cohen's sentence was a probation term, to include thirty days in jail, with work release privileges. A September 7 news release from UW-Madison officials stated Cohen was not teaching any courses, but did not reveal whether Cohen was accessing his court approved work release. Clark's attempt to access potential work release was denied when Dane County Sheriff's officials said there would not be adequate supervision of Clark at his campus job.

Cohen is serving his jail term at the state operated, Community Correctional Center in Milwaukee.

Department of Corrections spokesperson John Dipko told 27 News Cohen's approved work release involves Cohen's commute from Milwaukee to Madison. Dipko said Cohen's work consisted of library duties at the UW-Madison campus' Van Hise Hall.

"Lewis Cohen's work also involves reviewing written samples and entrance applications from prospective graduate students," Dipko told 27 News.

Dipko said the terms of Cohen's probation prohibit him from using computers. Cohen's office computer in Van Hise Hall was seized during a police search earlier this year. Dipko said Cohen's campus work release assignment restricts him to his office.

Dipko said Cohen's work release also involves part time employment at a private law firm.

Suder said Cohen's placement on campus undercuts assurances from UW-System President Kevin Reilly that system officials are prioritizing the issue of the university system's continued affiliation with convicted felons. Reilly appeared before a state committee September 13 and has joined in a call for a state audit of university employment practices, including those pertaining to felons. "President Reilly came in, and claimed things were turning around," said Suder. " Well, clearly this situation was not fixed."

Reilly was unavailable for comment. Cohen's campus work release assignment is in the same building as Reilly's office.

UW-Madison spokesperson Brian Mattmiller had yet to return a call from 27 News by our news deadline.

Dipko said Cohen's scheduled jail release is September 18.

Reilly has said investigations into the potential for firing Cohen, Coronado and Clark are almost complete. Reilly has said state statutes protect a university employee's right to due process and require a criminal conviction to be related to an employee's job to justify a termination.

Dipko said information on Cohen would be placed on the state's online sex offender registry on September 15.

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UW Panel Hears Professor Appeals

A Faculty Committee Has Been Swamped After Three Professors Were Fired After Committing Felonies

By Karen Rivedal  

Wisconsin State Journal - Sunday, December 11, 2005 (LOCAL, page D7)

Internal appeals of firing decisions are nearly finished for two of the three UW-Madison professors convicted of felonies in recent months, while the process for the third -- jailed stalker Steven Clark -- is just getting under way, university officials confirmed last week.

UW-Madison's administration had moved to fire all three by mid-September, but they remain officially employed pending internal appeals, an option they are entitled to under state and university rules.

One of the three, registered sex offender Lewis K. Cohen, is still drawing his $73,000 salary; the committee expects to make a decision in his case by early January.

"We made a very serious effort to try to do all three cases in this semester," said professor James Donnelly, who leads the nine-member appeals committee that hears faculty disciplinary cases. "But we just couldn't find enough time."

In Clark's case, an appeal request has been made to the committee, Donnelly said, but no hearings have yet been set.

Three convicted faculty

Clark, 52, an associate professor in the Medical School, also failed to convince a judge on Friday to let him out early. Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan denied Clark's motion to be released on electronic monitoring halfway through his one-year sentence for stalking a former girlfriend.

"The judge didn't change anything," Assistant District Attorney John Burr said Friday.

Donnelly's committee completed its hearings and made a decision about two weeks ago in the third case, that of Medical School professor Roberto Coronado, who was sentenced in August to eight years in prison for sexually assaulting three young girls.

The committee presented its recommendation to Chancellor John Wiley, Donnelly said, and Wiley soon will present the finding -- or a different one, if he disagrees with it -- to the UW Board of Regents, university spokeswoman Amy Toburen said Saturday.

Under state law, the Regents make the final decision on any faculty firings. The law also bars the university from firing a faculty member solely on the basis of a criminal conviction; instead, an investigation must be done to prove the offense is related to the person's job performance, and due process rights, including the ability to appeal, must be provided.

Donnelly declined to say whether the committee upheld or denied the administration's decision to fire Coronado, 52, citing rules about confidentiality. He did say that the committee -- which typically would see no more than a handful of such egregious cases over many years -- is eager to complete its work.

"The committee is desperately anxious to proceed with all three cases and to finish them ASAP," Donnelly said.

In the case of Cohen, a literature professor now free after a conviction for exposing a child to harmful materials by sending nude photos of himself and other men over the Internet to a 14-year-old boy, the committee has held hearings, deliberated and is now forming its recommendation.

Process can be tedious

Donnelly said the panel's work can be delayed by scheduling difficulties for committee members and the lawyers who represent the university, the appellant and the committee itself.

Hearings also are governed by many of the same rules that apply to formal court proceedings, whether the alleged offenses involve the outside legal system or not.

"The procedure is not terribly elaborate, but it's elaborate enough when you have 10 or 20 people involved," Donnelly said. "Getting them to act in unison is not the easiest thing in the world."

State rules govern the appeals procedure, and certain due-process rights are provided to all public employees -- not just university faculty -- including constitutional property rights to their salaries.

But university rules differ from those for most other state employees in one important respect. Other agencies fire employees first and provide back-pay later if appeals prove that the decision to dismiss was wrong; university rules mandate that most employees continue to be paid -- and in most cases be allowed to keep working if they are able to -- until the appeals process is over.

That's why Cohen is still being paid. The other two professors are not getting paid while their appeals proceed only because they are imprisoned and therefore cannot work, university officials have said.

Cohen, 60, finished a 30-day sentence for his crime on Sept. 18. The university decided to bar him from campus three days before that, ending a work-release arrangement with the Milwaukee County Jail in which Cohen had worked on campus, but away from students, officials said.

A special committee of the UW Board of Regents is now considering possible changes to the employee disciplinary process, including a provision to suspend pay for professors charged with or convicted of serious crimes while appeals proceed. Committee members also are looking at ways to speed up university investigations in such cases while retaining due process and appeals rights.

Status of the cases

Steven Clark Position: Associate professor in the UW medical school.

Salary: $67,861.

Crime and sentence: One year in jail, which Clark began serving June 23. Clark was convicted of stalking a former girlfriend.

Job status: Clark is on unpaid leave while his appeal of the university's decision to fire him continues. The appeals committee has yet to schedule hearings on his case.

Roberto Coronado Position: UW medical school professor.

Salary: $137,641.

Crime and sentence: Serving eight years in prison. Coronado pleaded no contest on March 28 to two counts of repeated sexual assault of a child and one count of first-degree sexual assault of a child; he was sentenced in August.

Job status: Coronado is on unpaid leave while his appeal of the university's decision to fire him continues. The appeals committee finished with his case and issued a recommendation about two weeks ago to Chancellor John Wiley, who is expected to ask for a final decision by the UW Board of Regents soon.

Lewis Cohen Position: Professor of comparative literature.

Salary: $72,856.

Crime and sentence: Finished a 30-day jail sentence on Sept. 18. Cohen pleaded no contest to one count of exposing a child to harmful materials.

Job status: Cohen continues to be paid while he appeals the university's decision to fire him; he is barred from campus and is not working for the university. The appeals committee has finished its hearings and expects to issue a recommendation for the chancellor's consideration by early January.

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Wisconsin State Sex Offender Registry

April 22, 2006

http://www.nsopr.gov/

Registrant: LEWIS K COHEN

DOC ID#: 00482918

Alias(es): KEITH COHEN, LEWIS COHEN

Gender: M     Race: WHITE     Age: 61

Description Detail

Height:  UNAVAILABLE

Weight:  UNAVAILABLE

Eye color:  UNAVAILABLE

Hair color:  UNAVAILABLE

Photo(s) Taken: 09/21/2005

Offense Requiring Registration

Conviction date: 07/27/2005

Conviction county: MILWAUKEE

Conviction state:  WI

Criminal code: 948.11: Exposing a Child to Harmful Materials

Sex Offender Registry Status

Custody/supervision: INCARCERATED

Registration begin: : 07/27/2005

Registration end: 07/27/2022

Compliance status:  COMPLIANT

Note: Compliance indicates whether offender has responded to last contact letter from Sex Offender Registry Program.

Residence: INCARCERATED

Contacts: If this is an emergency, contact your local law enforcement agency. If you have concerns, corrections or questions about the registrant information on this page, please contact an appropriate authority listed below.

Institution currently supervising offender:

OAKHILL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION

P.O. BOX 938

OREGON, WI 53575

(608)835-3101

Sex Offender Registry Program:

DOC SORP ADMINISTRATION

3099 E WASHINGTON AVENUE

MADISON WI 53704

(608)240-5830

Sex Offender Registry Office

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Update on UW-Madison employees convicted of felonies

University of Wisconsin - April 7, 2006

From UW-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell:

"The University of Wisconsin-Madison has reached closure today on three extremely rare and arduous personnel cases involving faculty members convicted of felonies.

The UW System Board of Regents voted today to dismiss Lewis Cohen, a professor of comparative literature, upon the recommendation of Chancellor John Wiley. In addition, on April 4, the university accepted the resignation of Steven Clark, associate professor of human oncology. He will resign effective Aug. 15, 2006, and will continue to receive no salary or benefits from the institution. This decision eliminates the need for a costly and time-consuming internal hearing and serves to immediately sever ties between Clark and the university. The dismissal of Roberto Coronado, professor of physiology, was accomplished in February.

The university community shares in the anger over the crimes committed by these people and we regret the impact they had on some individuals personally and on campus morale in general. To that end, we are grateful to those who worked diligently on campus to resolve these cases. The process worked as designed to protect individual rights while simultaneously allowing the institution to pursue the course of action it felt appropriate.

There is also recognition that state rules on faculty discipline need to be reexamined with an eye toward creating faster resolutions when possible. UW-Madison will continue to work with a Regents committee on this matter through shared governance to identify reforms that will expedite the process while maintaining due process rights."

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Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry
Wisconsin Department of Corrections - November 6, 2013

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National Sex Offender Registry
NSOPW - November 6, 2013

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FAIR USE NOTICE

Some of the information on The Awareness Center's web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." –– Margaret Mead

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Case of Heath Colwyn

Case of Heath Colwyn

Electrical Engineer - Ainsdale, England

Liverpool, England

Former Jewish Lads’ and Girls’ Brigade member 

Plead guilty to 26 offences of making indecent images of children and five of distributing them.  

Police went to Colwyn's home on March 22, 2005 they seized two laptop computers and 21 floppy discs. When these were analysed officers found a total of 488 indecent images of children aged between about nine to 15 years.

Geoffrey Greenwood, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that 277 of the images were in the lowest category of such images but there were 89 in the serious category involving sex with adults.

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Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs.

Table of Contents:

2007 

1. Shul-goer gets jail for 26 child porn offences (08/11/2007)
2. A 33-year-old family man who downloaded child porn from the internet was today (Mon) jailed for nine months  (11/05/2007)
3. Family man jailed for downloading child porn  (11/06/2007)
4. Man jailed for web child porn offences (11/06/2007)

 

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Shul-goer gets jail for 26 child porn offences By Nathan Jeffay

The Jewish Chronicle - August 11, 2007

V Southport’s Jewish community was in shock this week after a regular Reform Synagogue congregant was jailed for nine months for downloading and distributing child pornography.

Heath Colwyn, 33, was sentenced on Monday at Liverpool Crown Court, where he had pleaded guilty to 26 offences of making indecent images of children and five of distributing them.

The court was told that police seized two laptops and 21 floppy discs from the home of Colwyn in March 2005. They were found to contain 488 indecent images of children aged from about nine to 15. Eighty-nine were in the serious category involving sex with adults.

One of the laptops contained emails showing that the electrical engineer had distributed images to others in the UK.

Colwyn’s barrister, Andrew Loveridge, pointed out that he had no similar previous convictions and denied that his behaviour had been sexually motivated.

However, Judge David Aubrey, QC, found this “difficult to accept”, and, passing sentence, told the court that viewing such images perpetuated child abuse. The court was told that Colwyn’s wife was standing by him. The couple have a three-year-old son.

Colwyn, who in his younger days was an enthusiastic Jewish Lads’ and Girls’ Brigade member, was said by a fellow Southport Reform congregant to have “an unblemished record in the community”, where his family is long established and well regarded. “There is nothing in his past to account for what happened.”

Emeritus minister Rabbi Sydney Kay told the JC that Colwyn would remain welcome at services and community events when released, and was “amazed” that anyone would think otherwise. “A synagogue is a synagogue and as such accepts every Jew as a Jew.”

Referring to the decision taken earlier this year by Stanmore Synagogue to ban indefinitely a convicted sex offender , Andrew Josephs, Rabbi Kay said: “Stanmore is Stanmore, Southport is Southport. If someone has served his punishment, as the Torah says, the judge draws him close and calls him brother.”

Any concerns by young families would be dealt with and could not influence the decision, as “I am guided by the Torah”.

The Reform congregation has around 120 adult members and 20 children at its cheder.

JLGB chief executive Neil Martin said Colwyn had been a member up to the age of 18 or 20, and “may have been our most junior type of young leader. But had there been any cause for suspicion, we would have acted.”

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A 33-year-old family man who downloaded child porn from the internet was today (Mon) jailed for nine months

Champion News - November 5, 2007

Heath Colwyn was arrested after police investigating a West Midlands man discovered that he had sent images to Colwyn.

When police went to Colwyn's home on March 22, 2005 they seized two laptop computers and 21 floppy discs. When these were analysed officers found a total of 488 indecent images of children aged between about nine to 15 years.

Geoffrey Greenwood, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that 277 of the images were in the lowest category of such images but there were 89 in the serious category involving sex with adults.

On one of the laptops they found emails showing that he had distributed images to other similar minded people in the UK.

Colwyn, of Cornwall Way, Ainsdale, pleaded guilty to 26 offences of  making indecent images of children and five of distributing them.

His barrister, Andrew Loveridge, said that Colwyn, who has no similar previous convictions, denied his behaviour had been sexually motived.

But jailing him Judge David Aubrey, QC, said he found that "difficult to accept."

He pointed out that viewing such images perpetuates child abuse. Mr Loveridge said that Colwyn committed the offences because he felt isolated. His wife, with whom he has a three-year-old son, is standing by him.

He pointed out that the offences committed by Colwyn, who works as an electrical engineer, happened two and a half years ago.

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Family man jailed for downloading child porn

Liverpool Daily Post - November 6, 2007

A FAMILY man who downloaded child porn from the internet was jailed for nine months yesterday.

Heath Colwyn, 33, was arrested after police investigating a West Midlands man discovered he had sent images to Colwyn. 

When police went to Colwyn's home on March 22, 2005, they seized two laptop computers and 21 floppy disks. When these were analysed officers found of 488 indecent images of children aged from about nine to 15. 

Geoffrey Greenwood, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that 277 of the images were in the lowest category of such images, but there were 89 in the serious category involving sex with adults.

On one of the laptops they found emails showing he had distributed images to other similar minded people in the UK. 

Colwyn, of Cornwall Way, Ainsdale, pleaded guilty to 26 offences of making indecent images of children and five of distributing them. His barrister, Andrew Loveridge, said Colwyn, who has no similar previous convictions, denied his behaviour had been sexually motived. 

But jailing him Judge David Aubrey, QC, said he found that "difficult to accept." He said viewing such images perpetuated child abuse. Mr Loveridge said Colwyn committed the offences because he felt isolated. His wife, with whom he has a three-year-old son, is standing by him. 

He said the offences committed by Colwyn, an electrical engineer, happened 2 1/2 years ago.

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Man jailed for web child porn offences
Liverpool Echo - November 6, 2007

A 33-year-old family man who downloaded child porn from the internet was jailed for nine months. 

Heath Colwyn was arrested after police investigating a West Midlands man discovered that he had sent images to Colwyn. 

When they went to Col-wyn's home they seized two laptop computers and 21 floppy discs which, when analysed held a total of 488 indecent images of children aged between about nine to 15 years.
Geoffrey Greenwood, prosecuting, told Liverpool crown court that 277 images were in the lowest category but that 89 were in the serious category. 

Colwyn, of Cornwall Way, Ainsdale, pleaded guilty to 26 offences of making indecent images of children and five of distributing them. 

His barrister, Andrew Loveridge, said Colwyn denied his behaviour had been sexually motived.
But Judge David Aubrey QC, said he found that "difficult to accept".

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FAIR USE NOTICE

 
Some of the information on The Awareness Center's web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Lost in the Shuffle: Survivors of Sexual Victimization

Lost in the Shuffle: Survivors of Sexual Victimization
© (2005) By Vicki Polin, MA, LCPC, NCC

 

It's so easy for survivors of sexual violence to get "Lost in the Shuffle". There so many different levels this can happen. I don't even know where to begin. 

Let me get started by telling you about a discussion a dear friend of mine had with her 12 year old daughter, Rochel. 

The reason why this is so funny, is because my friend is more then just aware about the political climate everyone associated with The Awareness Center works, and about my own personal pet peeve regarding the term "expert". 

It seems that every time someone has told me "they were an expert" on a particular subject related to sexual violence, and continue on by telling me I should "trust them" because they are such an expert -- it has always been a huge red flag, to run as far away from them as I can. 

Let me warn you that I am very opinionated when it comes to this world. I'm also aware not everyone will respond the way I do. 

My experience has been that the majority of the times a person has appointed themselves as an expert -- it has meant they stop learning, appeared to be close minded, and unable to hearing other peoples perspectives. 

I have no problem with someone telling me that they have a great deal of experience in an area, but when someone calls themselves an "Expert" to describe themselves, especially when dealing with victimization issues, I run and suggested to others they do the same. I also make sure to tell survivors that they are the only true "expert" of their lives, and ultimately they hold the key to what will help them heal. 

You have to understand, that choice has been taken away from someone who has been sexually violated. They need to learn or relearn to trust their own judgment. Going to someone who is a self-appointed expert, often takes choice away from the survivor. 

Believe it or not; Being a victim advocate means you have to deal with some pretty ugly political situations. Believe me, not everyone will agree with your perspective in how to handle various cases or situations. 

Keeping everything I've just said in mind, here is the wisdom of Rochel, the fifteen year old teenager.

The discussion Rochel had with her mother was on the mean of two words. "Expert" and "Politics". 

Expert

An "Ex" is has been

Spurt means A drip under pressure

therefore an Expert is a Has Been, drip under pressure.

 

Politics

Poly means Many

Ticks are blood sucking creatures

therefore Politics means Many blood sucking creatures

 

Did you ever stop to think, who in their right mind would want to spend time talking about rape? incest? other forms of childhood sexual abuse? or how about the popular topic of Rabbinical Sexual Misconduct? I'm sure you can think of a zillion other things to occupy your mind and discuss with friends that wouldn't evoke the same emotions these topics do. 

I keep thinking back to about a month ago (February, 2005). The headlines in the news were about the Academy Awards. This wasn't just on a local level, it happened internationally (It was on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, BCC, etc.). Almost everyone was talking about WHO was going to get nominated for an Oscar. 

Once the nominations were announced, the topic of discussion swiftly changed to: What each of the celebrities were going to wear. 

Stop and think about it. How many thousands of dollars (if not millions if you add in the jewelry) were spent on the wardrobes of each individual celebrity, remember this was for just one evening? Can we even begin to compare that amount money to how many dollars are spent on helping each individual survivor of sexual violence over a lifetime? 

Things like this always get me thinking. What are the Academy Awards really about? One perspective might be that it's a group of people from various related professions, getting together to honor each other, for a job well done. Many of the nominee's and winners are basically getting honored for pretending they are other people. This idea worked out so well that they decided to repeat it once a year for the last 77 years. 

I've worked with many survivors over the years who also have the talent of being other people. It's not really pretending, in the survivor world they call it dissociation. It's a a coping mechanism. Not one of them have ever gotten an award for this talent. 

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the world recognize what they are doing and start honoring survivors of sexual abuse or assault and also those who are supportive of them (i.e. parents, spouses, friends)?

Let's take this a step further. I don't know if you heard about the "goodie-boxes that those who were nominated to get an Oscar received? These party favors included also sorts of elaborate gifts: 

Top of the line cell phones, camera's, designer clothing, diamond jewelry, video games, stays at exclusive spa resorts -- the list goes on and on. I read some where that in 2003 the "goodie-bags were worth over $20,000.00 a piece, some even much more. 

Remember these gifts were given to those who were just nominees. Can you imagine the gifts that the winners got? 

Now let's change things around a bit. You were sexually abused as a child. You told someone who believed you, and they helped you get the help you needed. 

The odds are you spent a few years in therapy, working through all sorts of things. 

The Academy learned of your bravery and nominated you as "survivor of the year". Can you imagine the incentive to heal if you knew you might be able to get one of those "goodie boxes"? 

Some might feel that receiving one of these gifts is the worlds way of thanking you for developing the coping mechanism you needed to survive, and thanking you for taking the time out to heal.

We can't forget one of the most important aspects of being nominated, and then having your name announced as the winner. 

I want you to imagine what it would be like for you to walk into a room, and everyone stands up and gives you a round of applauds for a job well done? You are honored and respected, just for being you. 

You being honored because:

You are part of The Few,

The Proud

You are part of the solution

You are a Rape Victim Advocate and/or a Survivor of Sexual Violence. 

They want to thank you for being brave enough to "break the Taboo" by being alive, thank you for being willing to educate others and/or just talking about Sexual Violence in Jewish Communities around the word. 

When I was a child, my friends and I would play a game called "Let's pretend". So I'm going to ask you to play along with me. 

Let's pretend you were walking down the street, and two men came up behind you, pointed a gun at you and said, give me all of your money -- or I'll kill you. You complied, pulled out your wallet and gave it to them. They ran away. Leaving you standing on the street, shaking. 

What would be the first thing you would do? 

If you are like most people, you would most likely call the police; and give them all the details you had. 

Then you might call everyone you know, and tell them about what happened to you. For the next week or two it might be the only thing you could think about. 

Because everyone you told was supportive of you, the trauma slowly fades into your memory.

Now let's say, you're about seven. Your parents went out, and your baby-sitter came into your room, and took all the money in your piggy bank. They told you if you told anyone, bad things would happen to you and/or family members. The next day when your mother woke you up to go to school, would you tell her about the robbery?

• If not, how long would it take before you told anyone?
• When you finally did tell someone, who would it be?
• How do you think that person would respond?
• Do you think they would believe you?
• If they didn't believe you, would you tell anyone else?

All too often when someone has been sexually abused or assaulted, they feel a great deal of shame. They have also been robbed of something. 

Unfortunately in our society it's not socially acceptable to say "Hi my name is Steve, and I'm an incest survivor". This reality has got to change if we want our communities to heal.

All too often survivors have been made to feel their victimization was their own fault. This is far from the truth. We need to educate our communities that a survivor of sexual abuse/assault should be treated the same way you would treat someone who was robbed on the street.

One of our biggest problems we have, is that our communities don't have the education they need to understand the issues and ramifications sexual violence plays on it's victims. 

We need to demand that this be changed. The resources our out there, yet our community leaders have been afraid to utilize or learn from them. 

We as victim advocates have a responsibility to insure there be a public outcry for change.