Thursday, March 27, 2014

Leticia Piper is Guam’s 2011 National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) Visionary Voice Award Recipient

                                                                                                (Left: AnnParo Rios, Right: Leticia Piper)

1. Can you please tell us briefly about the outstanding work you do to end sexual violence in our island community.

When I received recognition for the Visionary Voice Award, I was working for the Healing Hearts Crisis Center, so my work was solely in the area of serving victims/survivors of sexual assault. I was fortunate to be a part of their first steps towards healing when individuals decided to come forward after being assaulted. I also had the opportunity to participate in prevention efforts with other agencies in the community which included talking to children in the schools to teach them the differences between red/green flag touches and situations, respecting other people’s bodies and who to turn to in the event that they found themselves in a red flag situation, so that hopefully they could prevent a red flag touch. I also worked with the Healing Hearts team and our main funder, the Edward Byrne grants, to ensure that there was funding set aside for public awareness efforts to make sure to get the message out about how serious a problem sexual abuse is on our island and that the Healing Hearts Crisis Center was ready and willing to help them.

2. What do you see are Guam’s strengths to support the efforts to end sexual violence, and where do you feel Guam could improvement…and why?

What I see as a strength of our island is that there is a growing number of individuals and groups in the community that are dedicated to the efforts to end sexual violence. These individuals don’t shy away from talking about sexual violence and the need to end this violence that plagues families on Guam. We as a community have come a long way and are starting to talk to our children more than shy away from conversations surrounding these issues.  In time, this can only strengthen the island as a whole, and when everyone believes that sexual violence must stop, we are that much closer to ending the problem.

3. Please tell us about any current projects and work that you are presently doing and/or any upcoming plans.

In my current position, I was involved with putting together an application for the Office on Violence Against Women’s Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program in an effort to expand the services that we at Guam Legal Services Corporation-Disability Law Center can provide to victims of sexual assault, family violence and stalking.

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Leticia has many roles at Healing Hearts Crisis Center. Leticia has done the work as program manager, intake social worker and child forensic interviewer. Leticia assists those most vulnerable to assault and abuse, has devoted her career to the care of sexually abused children, and has hopes and aspirations to develop a Children's Advocacy Center on Guam.

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The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) announces the Visionary Voice Awards annually. These awards, offered in conjunction with Sexual Assault Awareness Month each April, recognize the creativity and hard work of individuals around the country who have demonstrated outstanding advocacy and community work to end or prevent sexual violence. The NSVRC relies on each state, territory, and tribal coalition to select one outstanding individual deserving of this honor (only coalitions may make selections). While we encourage coalitions to look to their local community partners for outstanding individuals, coalitions may select the person to receive the award on whatever basis they wish. 

The 2014 awardees will be announced on March 27, 2014.



GCASAFV has participated in this since 2010. 

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