Victim advocates help crime survivors navigate path to justice
(InvestigateTV) — Justice can be slow. For crime victims, the legal system can feel confusing, intimidating, and often hopeless.
Across Michigan, advocates are working behind the scenes to ensure survivors are not alone.
Victim advocates play a critical role, not just in the courtroom, but in the healing process that can take years, sometimes decades.
They offer a lifeline to people who have been traumatized by violence, abuse, and loss.
“Our victim advocates are really the first responders,” said Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane.
“To notify them of what their rights are, the fact that they have a right to be heard by the prosecutor, be told about court dates, plea offers, things of that nature, but also to assist them in safety planning, referrals for counseling, assist them possibly in getting a PPO against the perpetrator, and then helping them seek the restitution that they deserve and or compensation.”
Priscilla Bordayo was just 12 years old when she reported being sexually abused by her own father.
“Ultimately, I ended up lying to the courts to protect my family. Mainly because I realized, even as a child, the difficult decisions my mom was having to make, in order to move forward with the process,” Bordayo said.
“We didn’t know victim compensation was a thing. We didn’t even realize that there were resources available.”
Her disclosure unearthed a painful truth, abuse that had silently cycled through generations in her family.
“We didn’t know, we didn’t know that this was, believe it or not, as an, like not normal, like when you grow up and you find out that your cousins are experiencing the same thing,” Bordayo said.
“You know deep down, something’s not right, but you don’t know who to go to for help.”
Fear often keeps victims silent. Without advocacy, justice can remain out of reach.
“This is a really uncomfortable topic,” said Alex Brace, Executive Director and therapist at Small Talk Children’s Advocacy Center in Lansing.
“But I think that’s why conversations like this and you know, people like Priscilla are so important, because we really need to face the reality that child abuse is a real thing that happens in our community. It’s a crime that does not discriminate against anybody based on their race, their religion or where they grow up.”
Small Talk opened in 2011 to create a more coordinated and trauma-informed response to child abuse cases.
“Children can come here for what’s called a forensic interview,” Brace explained.
“So it’s an opportunity for a child to get their statement on the record about what happened to them and then after that, we’re able to provide them with counseling services, and advocacy services, at no cost, for as long as they need it.”
When Bordayo came forward, places like Small Talk didn’t exist.
She found her own way forward through education and the strength of hearing others share their stories.
“I wanted a different life,” she said. “I knew that the dysfunction that I was living in, the options for my family lineage, wasn’t looking very good. I mean you had many family members turning to drugs, to drinking, to crime, things that I didn’t want to do and I knew that I needed to make a different decision for myself.”
Bordayo became the first in her family to earn a college degree.
Today, she’s the statewide manager for Michigan Crime Survivors for Safety & Justice.
Watch more of Priscilla Bordayo’s story by clicking here.
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