By Racheal Hebert, LCSW, BACS, STAR President & CEO September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Research has shown that survivors of sexual trauma are at an increased risk of suicide attempts and death by suicide. By learning more about the connection between experiences of sexual assault and suicide, we can learn to identify warning signs… Read More
Category: Supporting Survivors
See Something, Say Something: Mandatory Reporters and the Duty to Report
By: Morgan Lamandre, STAR Legal Director The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is a federal law that requires states to adopt laws requiring certain individuals to report suspected instances of child abuse and neglect as a condition to receiving certain federal funding. Louisiana, like most states, have adopted laws to maintain compliance with… Read More
My Thanks to STAR: A Reflection of an AmeriCorps Member
My name is Sarah Dai and I am a Serve Louisiana AmeriCorps member. I have proudly served at STAR for the past two years, building capacity on the prevention education team. My role as the Community Engagement Coordinator has been to engage college students on campus and engage STAR’s audiences online. During my time, I… Read More
Raising Awareness of Survivors with Disabilities
By Racheal Hebert, LCSW, STAR President & CEO According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), disability affects more than 1 in 4 women and 1 in 5 men in the United States and has been associated with a greater risk of experiencing sexual violence compared to people without a disability. What is… Read More
Supporting LGBTQIA+ Survivors During Pride and Beyond
by Kourtney Baker, STAR Volunteer June is Pride month where we celebrate and honor lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and asexual individuals. Pride occurs in the U.S. to commemorate the historic Stonewall uprising, which occurred in June of 1969. Since the uprising, we recognize the continued progress towards ensuring the dignity and equality of… Read More
Institutional Change is a Moral Imperative
Our multiracial staff works together daily to support survivors of sexual trauma from all backgrounds and to address the problem of sexual violence. Over the past few weeks, on top of microaggressions and other reminders of racism experienced on a daily basis, Black members of our staff and Black people across the nation are experiencing… Read More
Boys Don’t Cry: a look at violence in the trans community then and now
By: Diana Nguyen, STAR Resource Advocate Disclaimer: Since this movie is based on the true story of Brandon Teena, I am aware that the producers and screen writers have taken creative liberty and there have been changes made to the movie that did not accurately depict what happened in real life. I will be writing… Read More
Ways We May Inadvertently Perpetuate Rape Culture
By: Kristen Williams, LMSW, STAR Counselor Let’s talk about Rape Culture. When we think of culture, we think of positive aspects such as history, arts and achievements. For something to become integrated into culture, it has to become a set of normalized ideas, attitudes and practices. For this reason, it is encouraged that we… Read More
Compassion Fatigue: Keeping on and Moving Forward
By JayTee Barbour, STAR Medical Advocate, New Orleans One of the most rewarding parts of working in the human services field is the ability to assist our clients and feel rewarded in that same interaction. In this process, we are taking in and learning from every experience what it means to be human. The brain… Read More
Our Response to COVID-19
Updated March 19, 2020 @ 1:00 p.m. Released March 13, 2020 The worldwide spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has understandably raised concerns for many. We want to be as proactive as possible to protect the health of our staff, volunteers, and clients. Due to the increasing concerns with the spread of COVID-19 in Louisiana, we will… Read More
