Walk Across Oregon
Why:
We want to inspire people across Oregon to work to prevent the sexual
abuse of children and to care for survivors of abuse. Our ideas include:
1. Providing private support, group support and community support for survivors of
2. Building support for eliminating the statute of limitations on prosecuting child sex
abuse.
What Else Can We Do?
Where:
We will start in Ashland, Oregon, on September 1, 2008, and end in Portland
tentatively on September 29, 2008.
Who:
We will be wearing neon yellow t-shirts that say “Stop Child Sex Abuse” on the front
and “Walk Across Oregon” on the back. We include survivors of childhood sex abuse
and clergy abuse, family members of survivors, and supporters from the community.
All survivors and supporters are welcome to join us at any point.
Contact:
Virginia Jones, childhood sex abuse and rape survivor and spokeswoman for the
Walk Across Oregon, co-founder of Compassionate Gathering, cell:503-866-6163, e-
Special Guest: Steve Fearing is the survivor of clergy sex abuse whose lawsuit
against the Archdiocese of Portland lasted nine years and set legal precedent in the
state of Oregon allowing survivors of sex abuse to file civil lawsuits against their abusers
within three years of realizing that they were harmed by the abuse they suffered as
Donations are accepted.
Tentative Itinerary for Walk Across Oregon
Monday, September 1 -- Day 1: Ashland towards Medford. Walkers in
Ashland include Virginia Jones and an anonymous mother of two survivors.
We will start on Ashland Street by Albertsons at 8 AM and walk to Siskiyou
Boulevard to Triangle Park. We will be at Triangle Park at 9:30 AM. Then we
will proceed along Highway 99/South Riverside Drive towards Medford. We
will rest at Annie’s Cafe at 723 Main Street in Phoenix at 4 PM.
Tuesday, September 2 -- Day 2: Through Medford on Old 99 to Blackwell Road to
Gold Hill. We will be at Mellelo Coffee at 205 S. Central Avenue in Medford at 9 AM.
Wednesday, September 3 -- Day 3: Gold Hill to Rogue River on Old 99. We will be
at Patti’s Kitchen on 175 2nd Avenue in Gold Hill at 9 AM.
Thursday, September 4 -- Day 4: Rogue River to Grants Pass on Old 99. We will be
at the junction where Rogue River Highway meets Depot Street at 8 AM.
Friday, September 5 -- Day 5: Canyonville segment on Old 99. We will be at Oregon
Sunshine Espresso at 340 N. Main Street in Canyonville at 8 AM. Myrtle Creek
segment on Old 99. We will be at Suzies at 920 Old Pacific Highway in Myrtle Creek
at 3 PM.
Saturday, September 6 -- Day 6: We will start where Old Highway 99 branches
off of I-5 and walk through Dillard to Winston. We will be at Sister’s Cafe at
60 SE Main Street in Winston at 4 PM. Virginia Jones is available to speak
with the media.
Sunday, September 7 -- Day 7: Winston to Roseburg. We will start at 8 AM in
Winston at Sister’s Cafe at 60 SE Main Street and walk to Roseburg along
Old 99. At 3 PM we will be at the Dairy Queen at 433 NE Stephens Street in
Roseburg. Virginia Jones will be available to speak with the media.
Monday, September 8 -- Day 8: Roseburg to halfway to Sutherlin along Old 99. We
will start at 7 AM at Gotta Hava Java at 1072 NE Stephens Street in Roseburg.
Tuesday, September 9 -- Day 9: Halfway to Sutherlin to Oakland along Old 99. We
will be at Digger Don’s Diner at 157 N. State Street in Sutherlin at 11 AM.
Wednesday, September 10 -- Day 10: We will start at the I-5 turnoff to Drain on Old
Highway 99 at 7 AM. We will walk on Old 99/Eagle Valley Road; we will be at the
Yoncalla Deli at 134 Main Street in Yoncalla at 11 AM.
Thursday, September 11 -- Day 11: Drain to I-5 on Old 99/ Umpqua Valley Highway.
Friday, September 12 -- Day 12: We will start at 7 AM where the Goshen Divide
Highway branches off of I-5 and walk on Old 99/ Goshen Divide Highway to Cottage
Grove.
Saturday, September 13 -- Day 13: Cottage Grove to Cresswell along old 99. We
will start at CG Deli at 605 5th Street in Cottage Grove at 8 AM and then walk to
Cresswell.
Sunday, September 14 -- Day 14: Meet clergy abuse survivor, Steve Fearing,
and the mother of two sex abuse survivors at 9 AM in at the Country Cafe at
121 North Mill Street in Cresswell. Steve and others will walk to Springfield
along Old 99. We will be at the edge of the baseball field in James Park on
Franklin Boulevard and East 19th Avenue near Springfield, Oregon, at 4 PM.
Steve is available to speak with the media.
Monday, September 15 -- Day 15: Springfield Through Eugene along Old 99.
We will be at The Original Pancake House at 782 East Broadway (Highway
99) in Eugene at 11 AM. At Noon we will walk along Old 99 towards Junction
City. Virginia Jones will be available to speak to the media.
Tuesday, September 16 -- Day 16: Eugene to Junction City along Highway 99. We
will be at Stockman’s Cafe at 92380 Highway 99 S in Junction City at 1 PM.
Wednesday, September 17 -- Day 17: Junction City to 99W to Corvallis. We will
start at Nina’s Pony Express at 1280 Ivy Street in Junction City at 7 AM. Then we will
walk the 99 West route to Corvallis
Thursday, September 18 -- Day 18: We will be at Red Horse Coffee on 310 SW
Third in Corvallis at 10:30 AM. We will start walking along old Highway 99
West to above Adair Village. Virginia Jones will be available to speak with
the media.
Friday, September 19 -- Day 19: Above Adair Village to Monmouth.
Saturday, September 20 -- Day 20: We will meet at 9 AM in the Burgerville in
Monmouth where Highway 99 West meets Highway 51. We will walk to
Independence and be at Polk Marine Park at 12 Noon. Then we will walk
towards Salem on Highway 51.
Sunday, September 21 -- Day 21: We will start at the south end of
Commercial Street in Salem at 9 AM and walk along Commercial Street. We
will pass through Pringle Park at 11 AM. Where Liberty branches off
Commercial Street, we will walk along Liberty Street and be at Coffee House
Cafe at 135 Liberty Street NE at 1 PM. After a break we will continue along
Commercial Street and the route of Highway 99 East. We will turn right from
Liberty to Center Street, turn left to Summer Street and walk along Summer
Street. From Summer Street we will turn right to Fairgrounds Road and
continue along Fairgrounds Road to Portland Road. Virginia Jones and Steve
Fearing will be available to speak with the media.
Monday, September 22 -- Day 22: Salem to Gervais along Portland Road/Old 99,
We will be at The Original Pancake House at 4685 Portland Road in Salem at 7 AM.
Tuesday, September 23 -- Day 23: Gervais to Hubbard and beyond along Old
Highway 99. We will be at Cactus Grille Tacqueria at 1032 N. Pacific Highway in
Woodburn at 1 PM.
Wednesday, September 24 -- Day 24: Hubbard to Canby, Steve Fearing will be
available to speak to the media in Canby. We will be at Yum Yum Espresso at
145 SW 1st in Canby.
Thursday, September 25 -- Day 25: Canby to Oregon City.
Friday, September 26 -- Day 26: Oregon City along McGloughlin Boulevard to
Portland. We will be in the Waterfront Park in Milwaukie, Oregon, at 11 AM.
Virginia Jones will be available to speak with the media at that time.
Saturday, September 27 - Day 27: From Martin Luther King to Willamette
Esplanade by OMSI. We will be meet on the Willamette Esplanade by OMSI,
walk north along the Esplanade, cross the steel bridge pedestrian walkway
connecting Esplanade to Waterfront Park. At 11 AM we will be at the
Japanese American Plaza next to the turn off to the Steel Bridge from Naito
Parkway. Steve Fearing and Virginia Jones will be available to speak to the media. We will continue walking along the Waterfront to Yamhill Street and then proceed along Yamhill to Pioneer Square. We will finish by walking along Broadway to Grand Avenue.
Sunday, September 28 -- Day 28 Grand Avenue to Martin Luther King
Boulevard, media with Steve Fearing and Virginia Jones.
Background Information:
Children are more vulnerable than ever to sex abuse. Although abuse has
always been with us, today internet pornography and internet chat rooms provide new
avenues of access to exploit children. These avenues also help people with unhealthy
compulsions easily find others who validate their proclivities.
Although some survivors are able to overcome childhood trauma and lead
productive lives, the lives of many others are devastated by abuse. Problems
survivors suffer include alcoholism, drug addiction, chronic depression, thoughts of
suicide, low self esteem, anxiety, outbursts of anger, problems with touch, inability to
enjoy sex, addiction to sex. Many survivors struggle finding and keeping jobs or
finding and keeping relationships. Some trust others too little. Others trust too much
and have trouble protecting themselves from further exploitation. Many prostitutes and
porn stars were sexually abused as children. Other survivors can be found among the
homeless or the attendees at Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous
meetings. Many survivors are so burdened by their losses that they are unable to pay
for the therapy they need for healing.
Studies indicate that 1 in 4 girls will be sexually abused before the age of
fourteen. For boys the figure is 1 in 6 or 7. At least 90% of reported crimes are
committed by someone close to the family. Despite increased awareness and
education about abuse, most survivors do not come forward until the they are old
enough or strong enough to speak out about it. The result is 88% of child sex abuse
crimes still go unreported.
Most people think that sexually abusing a child is a horrible crime, but when
someone respected is accused of abuse, many recoil from the painful truth. We can’t
believe that Granddad or the reverend or the popular school teacher could do such a
thing. People sometimes show more support for the abuser than for the abused child
or adult survivor. This leaves the survivor feeling alone and unsupported. Sometimes
the abuser is so manipulative and threatening, the victim is too terrified to come forward
for decades. In other cases the child doesn't identify what happened as abuse. Only
after struggling with multiple problems as an adult, the survivor realizes that they have
been abused. Many survivors never tell anyone out of shame and guilt.
Unfortunately those who do come forward are sometimes told, “Just get over it.
Why can’t you forgive, forget and move on?”
These attitudes rewound the survivor, pushing him or her deeper into silence.
If a state has a statute of limitations on criminal prosecution of sex abuse, there is
no recourse for the victims who come forward as adults, and the unprocescuted abusers
are allowed to continue abusing. Presently, Oregon is one of 34 states in the nation
that sets statutes of limitations on sexual abuse crimes. Child sex abuse advocates
note that murder has no statute of limitations and believe that child sex abuse is equally
heinous and should not be restricted by a statute of limitations. We feel that we need to
do everything we can to both prevent child sex abuse and to support those who have
suffered. Join or support the Walk Across Oregon in our efforts to raise awareness
about this issue, to nurture emotional support for survivors and to pass a bill in the
2009 Oregon Legislature that will eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal
prosecution of sexual abuse to twenty five years.