TESSA representatives Jenna Sandrovich and Mackenzie Reece hosted an intimate partner violence workshop at the University Center on Oct. 29 to spread awareness about domestic abuse and their efforts to aid victims.
Sandrovich, Lead Safehouse Case Manager, and Reece, Mobile Housing Advocate, engaged their 25 attendees as they educated them on TESSA’s programs and how to help victims of domestic abuse.
TESSA a government funded agency designed to help children and victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking, partnered with Feminist Club, Social Work Club, Sisterhood Club, and Pi Beta Phi to bring education and resources on domestic violence to UCCS students.
They offer many services including a 24-hour safe line for crises (719-633-3819), a safehouse, victim advocacy, a counseling program, youth and children’s programs, a non-emergency housing program and project LIFT. Sandrovich and Reece urge students to know the resources and help anyone in crisis.
All of these programs are staffed by trained advocates, who have the victim’s best interest at heart and emphasize confidentiality.
TESSA’s Resources
Project Safehouse gives any victim of domestic violence who has nowhere else to go, beside their abuser’s home, another option. The safehouse is an eight-week program that provides safe and confidential shelter, as well as any other necessity a victim may need during their stay. The goal of the program is to rehabilitate victims and keep them from homelessness and/or returning to their abuser.
Victim advocacy is a program in which victims are paired with a caseworker, trained in victim advocacy, to discuss their options. Many times, these caseworkers help obtain temporary protection orders, provide emotional support and give referrals to other relevant TESSA programs.
The TESSA counseling program offers both individual and group therapy with licensed officials. The group therapy sessions range from sexual assault survivors to trafficking survivors, and depending on comfort level, assign victims to groups with demographics they can relate with. This includes men’s groups, youth groups, LGBTQ+ groups, sexual assault groups, addiction groups and general trauma groups.
Housing first is the non-emergency housing program. Housing first aims to help victims keep existing leases or find new leases without their abuser. This program offers rent and deposit assistance, aiding victims financially.
Project LIFT helps victims receive permanent protection orders, appointing paid-for attorneys to represent them in court.
All of these services are free to all TESSA clients and aim to keep victims protected. “A lot of victims have total economic dependence [on their offender] … for this reason, they think, ‘It must be easier to go back,’ and we try our best to not let that happen,” Reece said.
Domestic Violence
“Domestic violence is that pattern of behavior used to gain or maintain power and control in a relationship … each occurrence builds on each other, setting the stage for more violence,” Sandrovich said. She explained that the most common types of abuse are physical, emotional and sexual violence, “But most of the time, if there’s physical violence, there’s all those other types of violence as well.”
It takes a lot of courage for victims to get out of these relationships, on average eight to nine attempts before successfully leaving. “It takes this many times because leaving the domestic violence relationship is where lethality reaches its absolute highest,” Sandrovich said.
“One in three women and one in ten men experience physical violence, rape or are murdered by their intimate partner … It’s also important to note that these statistics, especially regarding male victimization, are not necessarily accurate due to the underreported nature,” Reece said, adding that men are less likely to come forward about a domestic violence incident than women, with women, on average, coming forward after 30 days, and men, after 22 years.
Reece explained that LGBT!+ victims are more likely to experience domestic violence. 54% of trans and non-binary people, 61% of bisexual women, 44% of lesbians and 37.3% of bisexual men experience domestic violence at some point in their lives whereas 35% of straight women and 29% of straight men are victims.
Sexual Violence, Stalking and Human Trafficking
Any sexual act without consent that is freely given, reversible, informed, enthusiastic and specific (FRIES) is classified as sexual violence. “One in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives … the male statistic for this is very, very underreported,” Sandrovich said.
Stalking by an intimate partner can involve repeated phone calls and texts, damaging a victim’s property, threatening to hurt them or their loved ones, creating new phone numbers or accounts to reach them from and monitoring them by following them, using tracking devices or spyware.
Human trafficking is defined by TESSA as the use of fraud, force or proportion to obtain some kind of labor or commercial sexual act. “Trafficking victims have often been involved in the sex trade since they were two years old, so it is all they know … We often hear from victims ‘it would just be easier for me to go back to my trafficker,’ so we really try to avoid that,” Sandrovich said.
Sandrovich also explained that traffickers will withhold food and water from their victims to coerce them into a sexual act or get them addicted to drugs and withhold said substance.
How to Help Victims
If you know anyone who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual abuse, stalking or human trafficking, the best way to help them is to listen without judgement and believe them. “Too often are victims blamed and not believed, so the best way to help them is know the resources, believe what they tell you and never do anything without their permission,” Sandrovich and Reece said.
If you are interested in accessing resources from TESSA, it is easy to access help on their website.
Resource handouts at the workshop hosted on Oct. 29. Photo by Grace Brajkovich.