By Mark Peterson, Beaver County Radio Special Assignment Correspondent.

(Beaver County, PA)  April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Beaver County Radio has partnered with The Women’s Center of Beaver County to raise awareness about the topic.  Four weekly segments will air throughout the month with each focusing on different aspects of sexual abuse.

 

Today’s installment is the first in the four part series and sheds light on the issues of recall.  Specifically, how trauma can affect one’s ability to remember events and details clearly afterwards.  Beaver County Radio spoke with Patty Huselton earlier in a live on air interview about this very subject.  Ms. Huselton is a legal advocate available to victims of Sexual Assault through the Women’s Center of Beaver County.

 

Huselton even likened the struggle to remember important facts after a sexual assault incident as if  one were trying to make sense of a box of puzzle pieces dumped out on the floor.

 

Huselton later on pointed out that many times, it’s natural for victims of sexual assault, or anyone put into a threatening situation to be able to accurately remember important details, especially the timeline of events when trying to recall things in a courtroom.  That’s why it is very important for these victims to have a legal advocate working along side of them as they navigate through the legal system. The Women’s Center of Beaver County provides these services and welcomes inquiries.  Raising awareness of this valuable service is all part of local initiatives from the Women’s Center of Beaver County to coincide with National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which happens in April of every year.

For more information, call the Women’s Center of Beaver County at 724-775-0131. Help and counseling are available 24 hours a day.

Part two in this special series is scheduled to air and be published online next Thursday, April 15th, so be sure to check back then for more valuable information on the issues surrounding sexual assault  from Beaver County Radio and The Women’s Center of Beaver County.