For three months, Beret Pugh told no one.
Afraid and ashamed, the 14-year-old Snohomish sophomore could not bring herself to speak about the night she was raped.
“I felt like my heart was black and there was nothing that I could do to break that,” she said.
She finally told a school counselor after hearing a presentation about sexual assault by an advocate at Providence Everett Medical Center’s sexual assault center. The speech made her realize she wasn’t alone.
When she was terrified to undergo a physical exam, an advocate from the center held her hand, and a sexual assault nurse examiner patiently explained the process. Staff members provided hours of counseling and support.
“They chipped their way in and broke through this huge dark shell in me,” Pugh said.
Now Pugh shares her experience with other teenagers, is organizing a support group for sexual assault survivors, and plans to become a nurse who cares for victims of assault.
It’s a transformation she credits to the center.
“Anything and everything I ever needed to get through this experience, Providence gave to me,” said Pugh, now a 17-year-old Snohomish High School senior.
The center, which has provided specialized care for victims of sexual assault for more than five years, makes the hospital experience easier for victims, supporters say, and helps ensure that evidence of sexual assault is collected and preserved correctly.
The sexual assault center provides medical treatment to about 700 patients a year, plus offers support groups and a crisis line, said Barbara Haner, the center’s clinical coordinator.
The center treats patients 24 hours a day at Providence’s two emergency rooms, in addition to patients who come to Stevens Hospital in Edmonds and Valley General Hospital in Monroe. Both a sexual assault nurse examiner and an advocate respond to calls.
“Our goal is to provide compassionate professional care to victims of sexual violence and provide mental, physical and emotional healing,” Haner said.
At the start of an exam, the advocate and nurse explains the process and discusses any concerns or questions a patient has.
“In a rape situation, they’ve had control taken away from them in the very worst way,” Haner said. “We’re very sensitive to that. Part of the whole exam process is leaving it open and giving the patient choices. They can do half and talk about the rest, or you can start and change your mind.” The average exam takes about two hours, including about a 20-minute physical.
During the physical exam, a sexual assault nurse examiner collects evidence that can be used in the investigation and prosecution of sex crimes, Haner said.
“Having been involved in the prosecution of sexual assault cases in this community since 1984, I’m a big supporter of the SANE program at Providence sexual assault center,” said Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Paul Stern.
Pugh hopes to work for the sexual assault center after graduating from college.
“They always joke with me and say they’re going to need to put another desk in there for me,” she said. “I hope they will.”
Katherine Schiffner writes for the Herald in Everett.
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