Crisis Brings Out Best in Volunteer

Irma Monarrez settled into a cozy, overstuffed love seat in one of the Valley Trauma Center’s counseling rooms. Tossing her waist-length black hair over her shoulder, the soft-spoken volunteer pointed to the pastel-colored posters hanging on the wall and a pair of teddy bears propped up on a nearby sofa.

The tranquil decor, she explained, is designed to comfort rape survivors, who visit the center for short- or long-term counseling.

Monarrez, a 19-year-old Cal State Northridge student, has served as a rape-crisis advocate for the Northridge-based organization for 18 months. She is on call at least once a week to accompany sexual-assault survivors to hospital examinations, to police interviews or to court.

When the volunteer is called to one of the local hospitals that treat rape victims, Monarrez arrives on the scene trained to provide support and information about the medical and legal procedures the survivor will experience.

“Often, I don’t even have to talk to the survivors, just my being with them helps,” Monarrez said recently. “I can see them improve just by holding their hands during the physical examination or talking with them afterward. The one-on-one contact is what I like best.”

Monarrez said that, after responding to about 100 calls in the past 1 1/2 years, there are two cases that have been especially difficult for her to forget. One involved a date-rape victim about Monarrez’s age who was in shock and wouldn’t talk until Monarrez arrived on the scene. Feeling comfortable around a peer, Monarrez said, the young woman finally opened up.

Another time, the North Hollywood resident was faced with the challenge of comforting both a 9-year-old victim and her mother, who had just learned that her boyfriend was the child’s assailant.

“It takes a very caring individual to work as a rape-crisis advocate,” said Jean Morrison, the trauma center’s spokeswoman. “Irma has distinguished herself in that capacity and regularly goes above and beyond the call of duty to help women who might otherwise have a very difficult time accessing these services.”

Monarrez, who is studying criminology at CSUN, said she decided to get involved at the trauma center after seeing a flier about the group at school. Monarrez underwent 60 hours of state-certified training before going on her first call.

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The center, founded in 1989, is affiliated with CSUN’s Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling. With the help of more than 200 volunteers, it provides education, prevention and crisis-intervention programs to more than 15,000 people each year.

Monarrez said that, even though occasionally victims are too traumatized to accept advocacy services, they usually are eager to see a friendly face.

“Everyone reacts differently,” she said. “You get a range of emotions. Sometimes they’re in shock, sometimes they’re angry, sometimes they’re closed off. We’re trained to deal with all of them.”

In addition to her rape-crisis advocacy work, Monarrez has spoken at high school health fairs and talked to police personnel to help make them more sensitive to the needs of rape survivors.

“Sometimes the work gets very emotional for me,” Monarrez said. “But I have seen many survivors heal, and that makes it all worthwhile.”

The Valley Trauma Center’s Rape-Crisis hotline number is (818) 886-0453. The Santa Clarita Valley hotline number is (661) 253-0258.

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