[W]hen state Sen. Norm McAllister was charged last week with sexually assaulting women reliant on him for economic security, the Franklin County state’s attorney said the case was “unusual.”
Jim Hughes said his office hasn’t brought charges similar to the ones leveled against McAllister in his 30 years as state’s attorney. McAllister pleaded not guilty Friday to three counts of felony sexual assault and three counts of a prohibited act, a misdemeanor.
Asked if he was aware of other instances in which women seeking shelter or assistance were sexually assaulted, State’s Attorney Jim Hughes told reporters, “I haven’t had to bring a charge based on that. I can’t tell you that it’s not happened or been charged, but this is, in my experience, an unusual situation.”
While that may be true for Hughes’ office, victims advocates in Vermont suggest sexual predators often look to exploit a victim’s poverty to exert control and prevent them from going to authorities.
That few sexual predators are being prosecuted for similar acts may point to deficiencies in the state’s sexual assault and human trafficking laws, advocates say, but it also reveals the obstacles victims face in coming forward.
Last year, a former victim’s advocate with H.O.P.E. Works, an anti-sexual-violence organization in Chittenden County, told lawmakers that so-called “survival sex” is a gray area that some states consider human trafficking.
Auburn Watersong, with the Vermont Network Against Sexual and Domestic Violence, said Monday that sexual predators seek out vulnerable people, and poverty increases vulnerability.
“It definitely happens in Vermont,” Watersong said, adding that she’s aware of situations across there state where victims are dealing with “survival sex issues.”
The confluence of sexual predators looking for vulnerable victims coupled with a lack of safe and affordable housing in Vermont creates a “perfect storm” for sexual assaults, Watersong said.
Victims are often struggling to meet their basic needs, whether that’s housing, food, work or other forms of assistance, said Kris Lukens, director of Voices Against Violence, a crisis intervention nonprofit in Franklin and Grand Isle counties that focuses on domestic and sexual violence.
The charges against McAllister may blow the issue “wide open” for the public, because he’s a well-known figure, but Lukens said she sees cases like this frequently.
However, most similar cases don’t wind up in the criminal justice system because victims face many obstacles to coming forward, she said.
The women she works with may not see what’s being done to them as a crime or they don’t want to make their immediate situation worse, Lukens said. In other cases they’re intimidated into thinking authorities won’t believe their version of events, she said.
“We see it all the time,” she said, “There’s so many things that can be held over people’s heads, and whether or not it’s true, it’s real to the victims.”
In the McAllister case, investigators allege he was aware that one of his victims needed a job and a stable living environment to gain back custody of her children from the state. The victim claims, while she was being abused by McAllister, he put her in touch with someone he identified as “an attorney to the Vermont Senate” who could help her.
The two primary victims both relied on McAllister for employment, and one was living on his property, according to court documents.
“It takes a lot of strength to report, and I give the victims a lot of credit,” she said.
Women who come forward face a lot of negativity and a culture of “victim blaming,” Lukens said, in addition to the prospect of facing their abusers in open court.
“Coming forward can snowball, and you’re not sure it’s going to work for you in the end,” she said. For some it can bring closure, for others it can add to their trauma.
The state could be doing more to address the root causes of economic insecurity that are placing people at risk for abuse, Watersong said.
“(A) victim’s safety is dependent upon their economic wellbeing, so we need to make sure we’re doing everything we can in this state to fight poverty,” Watersong said.
Potential cuts to social welfare programs could put more vulnerable people at risk. The state needs to do more to help people become economically self-sufficient, she said, or similar abuse will continue.
Watersong cited Gov. Peter Shumlin’s recent initiatives to reduce homelessness as an example of efforts that could reduce the number of potential survival sex victims in the future.
