Benefit Honors Rape Crisis Center

The real-life inspirations for the show Law & Order: SVU came together Thursday night for a benefit at the OK Harris Works of Art Gallery in SoHo, to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the Crime Victims Treatment Center at the St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center.

The benefit, which honored the nine bureau chiefs of New York City’s Sex Crimes Prosecution, Child Abuse and Family Violence, and DNA Cold Case Units of the New York City District Attorney’s office, as well as Susan Still, a victim’s rights advocate, celebrated one of the most comprehensive victim assistance programs based out of a hospital in the United States.

The unit began as a grassroots organization by volunteer Columbia and Barnard students, faculty, and St. Luke’s staff after a Columbia University student was raped midday in 1977 and treated at the St. Luke’s emergency room. According to a press release, it began in an effort to provide “medical, psychological and legal needs of victims of violent crime,” because there was no protocol for post-medical care treatment of rape victims at the hospital. Current volunteers include actress and Soprono’s star Cara Buono, CC ’94, who began working at the center after seeing a flyer on campus.

In its short history, the center has grown into one of the most comprehensive victim-treatment centers in the United States. “We’ve had a lot of firsts in the program,” Courtney Pulitzer, the event’s producer, said. The center was the first rape victim’s crisis center in the United States to use DNA testing to prove sexual assault and to have a program for male survivors of sexual assault. In addition, “they treat anyone who has been a victim of any violent crimes, in all five boroughs, for free” Pulitzer said.

“We are honoring these women who have fought for victims rights and been ground-breaking leaders,” Pulitzer said, including Still her praise. Still is was a survivor of years of domestic violence and contributed to a “ground-breaking case” where her husband was given the longest sentence ever for a rape case where the victim did not die.

In response to her work, honoree Marjory Fisher, the bureau chief at the Queens Special Victims Bureau, said that the assistant district attorneys work with victims “collaboratively with the unit to limit the amount of trauma for the victim. ... It could be the difference between a woman participating the prosecution or not.”

Joseph Muroff, another honoree ADA in the Bronx, referred to a “multi-disciplinary approach.” The center allows for integration of the hospital staff, law enforcement, and lawyers, all working together to make the situation the best they can for the victim.

Dominic Carter, the host of New York 1’s “Inside City Hall,” and a victim of childhood sexual assault made the closing remarks of the evening. Carter’s powerful speech highlighted the importance of advocates for sexual assault on a personal level. His was the only speech to render the entire audience completely silent.
Shane Ferro can be reached at news@columbiaspectator.com.