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To the Survivors: One Man’s Journey as a Rape Crisis Counselor with True Stories of Sexual Violence Reviewed By Lois C. Henderson of Bookpleasures.com
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitepublisher/articles/7906/1/To-the-Survivors-One-Mans-Journey-as-a-Rape-Crisis-Counselor-with-True-Stories-of-Sexual-Violence-Reviewed-By-Lois-C-Henderson-of-Bookpleasurescom/Page1.html
Lois C. Henderson

Reviewer Lois C. Henderson: Lois is a freelance academic editor and back-of-book indexer, who spends most of her free time compiling word search puzzles for tourism and educative purposes. Her puzzles are available HERE and HERE Her Twitter account (@LoisCHenderson) mainly focusses on the toponymy of British place names. Please feel welcome to contact her with any feedback at LoisCourtenayHenderson@gmail.com.





 
By Lois C. Henderson
Published on February 14, 2016
 

Author: Robert Uttaro

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 

ISBN-10: 149093166X; ISBN-13: 978-1490931661




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Author: Robert Uttaro

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 

ISBN-10: 149093166X; ISBN-13: 978-1490931661

Many a reader will most probably find it rather ironical that the author of To the Survivors: One Man’s Journey as a Rape Crisis Counselor with True Stories of Sexual Violence, Robert Uttaro, grew up in a Catholic household. This is especially so when one considers how much sexual molestation has been at the front of the news for several decades now as a sin that has, in the past (and, one fears, even at present, although perhaps to a slightly lesser extent), tended to have been covered up by the Catholic Church when it has been perpetrated within their own ranks. Uttaro states, in this regard: “For the purposes of this book, I will only write about the allegations of priests breaking their vows of celibacy, sexual abuse, and an arrest of one priest.” Reading between the lines, it seems that Uttaro knows a great deal more on this subject than he intends to share, but, then, this is only one aspect of the whole spectrum of rape and survival, and he has a vast field to cover. However, he does offer some insights into the issue of the hushing up of sexual scandal under the banner of Cardinal Law, from the perspective of what he encountered while growing up, albeit it largely based on the accounts of others.

Uttaro states that his sole purpose in receiving his initial training as a rape counselor, which he concluded in August of 2007, was to help rape survivors in any way possible, as he felt that his vocation lay in that direction, in short, to counter the evil of rape, which he sees as a very tangible and negative force in this world. Actually, one rather wishes that he spent a little less time on justifying his own stance prior to embarking on the interviews themselves, but he clearly has had to explain his interest in the subject on more than one occasion in the past, so it probably helps him now to be able to just refer any would-be heckler to his book. This is especially in the light of his many speaking engagements at universities and colleges, as Uttaro is an ardent advocate of the rights of rape survivors, specifically in the face of the horrendous treatment that many receive from a society that often tends to blame the survivor rather than the perpetrator. His background in Criminal Justice has also provided him with a sound footing in regards to the legal system and its shortcomings in this respect.

To emerge from a background of self-cutting to assuming a role of counselor to those who have been sexually traumatized and humiliated is a triumph of the human spirit, and a victory over odds that might have counted against the author. Herein lies the key to the empathy that Uttaro feels for others, with his honesty and preparedness to reveal the details of some of his own worst experiences making him all the more believable as the narrator of this text.

Uttaro’s use of language might, at times, be offensive to some, but the grittiness of his subject, and his verbatim account of the interviews that he held with all those survivors whose cases he covers in To the Survivors, contextualize this in such a way that it is understandable under the circumstances. Overall, this work should be recommended reading for any rape counselor, as it provides valuable insights into a wide array of those who have successfully managed to survive the trauma of rape.