Prosecuting The Victim, Gender Biases, and The Psychological Impact of Injustice

Chapter 1: Victimization - Part I

This is a very traumatic and disturbing story to tell. I want to imagine that you, dear reader, are with me and supportive of me as I tell this. This chapter is only the beginning of a terrifying event in my life.

The date was October 1, 2004. My life had already become incredibly dark. I had built a successful career as a psychotherapist - a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. This accomplishment was nothing short of miraculous and had been a cause for celebration of some amazing accomplishments.

At one point in June or July of 2000, I had earned about two thousand five hundred dollars in one week. If that had been my income for the entire year, I would have earned around two hundred thousand dollars. In reality, as a psychotherapist in private practice, I didn't earn the same amount each and every week. But I was very successful both financially and as a professional member of my field.

Sadly, that had come to a crashing end beginning in late July of 2000. I will describe those events later.

I had always been shy and suffered from social phobia. A phobia is something that we avoid. For example, I have a phobia of snakes and I deal with that by avoiding snakes. Growing up and for many years as a young adult, I had avoided certain social situations. That prevented me from facing my fears.

I had overcome my fears by asking myself questions like "what's the worst thing that could happen?" I kept telling myself that I had nothing to fear. The world is a safe place. Nothing bad was going to happen to me. That kind of reasoning helped me overcome the challenges.

I was about to find out about the most surreal and nightmarish, unbelievably brtual, cruel and wicked things that could happen... worse than my wildest nightmares could ever imagine... on a day I was minding my own business at home, waiting for a friend. The person who would show up was most definitely not my friend.

Here I was on Friday, October 1, 2004. I had been taken to court on eviction papers by Jimmy (James Vecchione), the landlord. I appealed the decision saying that I was looking into ways to get the funds that I needed to catch up on the rent.

I was on the brink of homelessness. I had nowhere to put all my belongings. I had been homeless and had stayed in the shelter and it is hard to hold onto one's belongings, including those items that are irreplaceable in that situation.

It is not uncommon for people to find themselves in situations like this and there are resources in the community for helping persons in situations like this.

Also, back then all my photographs and videos were not backed up in the cloud where memories can be safely stored. I had a lifetime of memories that I didn't want to lose.

I had moved to a boarding house at 721 Holloway Street in Durham, North Carolina. I was about to start a business as a web designer and developer with the support of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) which had funded my training where I received a certificate from NC State University in Web Design.

In retrospect, the choice to work in Web Design was not wise. I had learned long ago that my true calling, my passion, my skills, as well as my confidence was in helping others who are dealing with emotional and psychological issues. Web design just wasn't a good match.

It's important to understand my passions, my compassion, and my empathy to understand my story. I have dedicated my life to helping others deal with emotional and psychological issues.

I had been in a very dark place for some time, so I went along with the suggestions of the counselor that I had at VR, Eric Peters.

Anyway, I was also discussing my situation with Eric Peters at VR and he had indicated that VR might be able to help me with the rent for a while. Eric had indicated that VR did have concerns about me locating a home-based business in a drug-infested crime-ridden part of Durham. They had concerns about the safety of the computer equipment they would buy and about customers/clients coming in person to that location.