On June 23rd Wendy Hanna, Executive Director of The Turning Point, spoke to the Club on the topic "Shattering the Stigma-Empowering Survivors." She received her BA degree from Oklahoma State University and came to her present leadership position from Children's Medical Center.
Ms. Hanna described the difference between sexual violence and sexual assault. The former is a use of power over another with sexual overtones while the latter involves an act of physical assault. The emphasis of a perpetrator is on power over a victim and follows a continuum from violence to an assault. Surprisingly in over 70% of sexual assaults the violator is a person known to the victim.
In the case of an assault, the victim is frequently overcome by a sense of guilt and debasement. The goal of The Turning Point is to provide victims with counseling, education and advocacy in an effort to create hope and healing. Begun in Plano in 1983 services are now available in both Dallas and Collin Counties. There is a 24 hour hotline as well as walk-in crisis intervention and a forensic clinic. Although victims usually seek to remain anonymous The Turning Point, without fanfare, provides support for victims to heal and for hope to overcome the effects of sexual trauma.