By Brett Dunlap
For The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Parkersburg – People from around the community gathered Wednesday in downtown Parkersburg to let the victims of sexual assault know that there are many out there who believe them and support them.
Around 40 people gathered at Bicentennial Park to commemorate Denim Day to recognize and support victims of sexual violence as April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month in West Virginia, said Emily Larkins, executive director of the Family Crisis Intervention Center (FCIC) in Parkersburg.
The campaign came as a result of protests against the Italian Parliament in the early 1990s when they overturned the conviction of a perpetrator who had raped an 18-year-old girl. The case was appealed when the perpetrator claimed the victim was wearing tight jeans and had to help take them off implying consent and somehow it was her fault because of what she was wearing. Protests erupted across the country. Soon after, Peace of Violence, an organization in California decided the public should wear denim as a way to protest myths about rape.
“Clothing does not cause sexual assault,” Larkins said. “The responsibility belongs solely to the person who chooses to commit the harm. We are taking the time to recognize that sexual assault does happen in our community.
“We take this opportunity to bring awareness in to the community and talk about the services we provide, validate victims and let them know that they are believed, it is not their fault and there are resources out there for them if they need them.”
Sexual violence can be done by someone who is trusted by the victim, a partner, a family member, an acquaintance or even a friend, Larkins said adding the effects can last for years.
“Survivors struggle with fear, anxiety, depression, isolation, disrupted relationships, difficulty working or having trouble simply feeling safe again,” she said. “Many never report what happened because of shame, fear or concern they won’t be believed.”
The FCIC is the recognized rape crisis center locally and offers services to survivors of sexual assault and their loved ones, including crisis response services, advocacy, hospital accompaniment, court support, safety planning, counseling, referrals, emotional support and education.
Sexual violence is a difficult subject for people to talk about, Larkins said. People believe it is a private matter.
“Sometimes victims of sexual violence suffer in silence,” she said. “Bringing out that support and letting them know that they don’t have to do it alone.
“If they need someone to provide that support and have someone walk along side them in their journey in healing that there are programs, entities and resources in our community that can support them.”
Larkins said the FCIC helps provide hope.
The needs in rural communities are greater with transportation needs, fear of being recognized, limited resources and concern about confidentiality.
“When someone has been broken by trauma hearing `I believe you’ can be life changing,” she said.
The other speakers at the event included Greg Collins, executive director for North Star Child Advocacy Center; Teresa Smith, Rape Prevention Educator for the Family Crisis Intervention Center; Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure; and Tonya Faught, Victim Advocate for the Wood County Prosecutor’s Office.
Faught thanked everyone for attending and showing support for people who are survivors of sexual assault. She spoke about the county’s sexual assault response team (SART) with law-enforcement, advocates, medical professionals and others involved in responding and caring for victims of sexual assault.
“It is about creating a community where survivors are believed, supported and empowered,” she said. “When you wear denim today, you are making a statement that you stand with survivors, that you believe them and that you are part of the change.
“As we gather here let us remember why this matters. Let us continue the conversation, support one another and work together to build a safer and more informed community.”
Collins described some of the instances his people have dealt with at the North Star Child Advocacy Center.
North Star partners with Child Protective Services, law enforcement and prosecutors to provide forensic interviews and medical exams for child abuse investigations and advocates for children in Wood, Wirt, Pleasants, Ritchie and Calhoun counties.
Around 37 percent of the children they saw were there for sexual abuse with 59 percent violated by a parent, like fathers having sex with sons, daughters and instances of them impregnating their daughters.
North Star has done examinations on kids as young as 11-months-old, Collins said.
He talked about a young girl fearing her father when he came upstairs, hoping he was t going to do “it” again. He described that when the father got close to her to talk that is when she knew it was going to happen. The father put a pillow over her head and she couldn’t breathe.
“`I don’t want to die, but I don’t want to live like this,’” Collins quoted the girl as saying. “`It felt like a stabbing my body did not want to accept.’”
In 2025, 383 of the 558 cases North Star was involved in were from Wood County.
Lefebure talked about the work of the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) made up of represenatives from around the community such as the FCIC, local law enforcement agencies, WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center, North Star, the Department of Human Services, Westbrook Health Services, the Arc and WVU.
“When a survivor comes forward, often in the most vulnerable and painful moment in their life,” Lefebure said. “They are not alone. With this team they are met with a wall of support expertise and care A team that listens a team that listens and a team that acts.
“They work together as a net that catches a survivor when they are needed the most.”
Healing is not simple and justice is not always quick,” Lefebure said.
“The work you do every day allows victims to reclaim their voices, their dignity and most importantly, their future,” he said.
Smith read a survivor’s statement, a mother, who was drugged and inappropriately touched by another woman in an inappropriate way during a professional conference.
“It left me deeply exposed and shaken that I still struggle to put into words,” she quoted the woman as saying. She was able to get some friends who picked her up and stayed with her and talked with her. Her friends encouraged to tell someone with the professional group. They talked to the CEO of the organization.
Awards were given to Jeryl Bowie, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Coordinator at Camden Clark, and Officer Michael McMullen of the Parkersburg Police Department for their work helping provide medical care to sexual assault victims and helping the victims feel they were supported and heard.
Smith said they cannot ignore sexual assault and hope it gets better or goes away. People can’t believe it can’t happen here.
“Listen and take it seriously,” she said. “Don’t brush it off.
“Ignoring doesn’t help. Listening and taking action does.”
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