How the 7th Judicial District Child Advocacy Center
Became the Dolphin House
DOLPHINS come to the assistance of one another by joining together to lift an injured or ill dolphin to the surface of the water to enable them to breathe and thus survive.
Like the Dolphins, the Child Advocacy Center exists to provide a safe, child-friendly, healing environment for victims of child abuse. This is the story Susan Towne shared with us, and thus, the Dolphin House.
MY STORY OF DOLPHINS: Susan Towne
Almost a decade ago, while working with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, I met a woman whose 3 daughters were violated sexually by their stepfather. The daughters, assaulted as young children, were now in or entering their teenage years. During one of our conversations, I told the mother a story about dolphins.
I explained that dolphins live in groups called pods, coherent long-term social units. Dolphins have often been observed frequently stroking each other with their flippers, indicating, they require physical contact much like humans.
Those bottle-nose dolphins who are in a pod have established strong social bonds. It appears that certain animals prefer association with each other and recognize each other after a period of separation. Mother–calf bonds are long lasting; a calf typically stays with its mother three to six years or more. Adult male pair bonds are strong and long lasting.
If another bottlenose dolphin is drowning, other dolphins will come to its aid, supporting it with their bodies so its blowhole is above the water allowing it to breath. Large adult males often roam the periphery of a pod, and may afford some protection against predators.
I told the mother we would be her dolphins. We would hold her and her daughters up to breath. We would form a protection around them until they began their healing process. And when this began, we would release them to breathe once again.
During the pre-trial and subsequent days that included a trial, the mother and 3 daughters would call me to talk: talk about the trial, talk about their anger, talk about their hope for the future. Every once in awhile I meet up with one of the girls or their mother. They always tell me how the dolphins influenced their lives, and they will never forget the story of the dolphins.More: What is a Child Advocacy Center
