| Endorsements |
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"AdvocateWeb is the first and most thorough website of its kind
..." |
"Advocate Web has become a life line..." |
"... gives us all the
needed energy and impetus to work together for constructive change." |
"An incomparable resource..." |
"Incredible!" |
"Three Star Rating..." |
... more ... |
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Mission Statement
AdvocateWeb is a nonprofit organization providing information and
resources to promote awareness and understanding of the issues
involved in the exploitation of persons by trusted helping
professionals. We are attempting to be a helpful resource for
victim/survivors, their family and friends, the general public, and
for victim advocates and professionals.
If you believe in our mission, please DONATE
NOW. We need your support in order to keep these services
available.
Our History
AdvocateWeb has existed as a web site since
January 1998 and since that time, we have aggressively worked to
provide free public information resources on the web for people who have been emotionally/sexually exploited
or abused by someone in a
"trusted helping profession". On September 27, 1999,
AdvocateWeb was incorporated as a Texas nonprofit corporation, we
then changed our Internet address from advocateweb.com to advocateweb.org, and
on December 27th, 1999, the IRS classified AdvocateWeb as a charitable
tax-exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
Our Concern
Exploitation of patients/clients by
"helping professionals" is an alarmingly common societal problem. Professionals in mental health-related
services, psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, therapists,
psychiatric nurses, ministers, as well as medical professionals, doctors, nurses,
home-health-care nurses, attorneys, professors,
teachers educators,
social workers, emergency / crisis counselors, drug abuse
counselors, victim services, and law
enforcement officers are entrusted and empowered by society to have
authority and power in people's lives. When this power is abused,
tremendous damage can result for the victims, and their families.
This is not a gender-specific problem. Victims can be male or
female. Perpetrators can be male or female. The issue is not really
about sex. It is about the misuse of power by a professional to
exploit a client's trust, vulnerability, and need for the
professional's help, to meet the professional's own personal desires
at the expense of the client.
The "cost" to the victim is immeasurable. The shattered
lives and families are the greatest toll of this abuse of trust.
Secondarily, there is a cost to society. Sexual exploitation by
professionals has been recognized as a problem of great magnitude in
recent years. Current estimates reveal one-third of all money
awarded in medical malpractice claims is due to sexual misconduct.
In some specific professions, such as psychology, this monetary
figure is estimated at greater than fifty percent! Thus, this
serious problem directly affects health-care and insurance costs,
and any attempts to reduce the prevalence of this problem can have a
positive impact on the economy. Thirdly, there is a cost to the
profession. When a professional abuses a client, they damage the
profession they represent.
Traditionally, many of these professions have done a poor job of
addressing such abuse, or even acknowledging it. Employers and
institutions often address "problems" that arise by
minimizing the abuse, or even worse, blaming the victim, in an
attempt to protect the image of the institution or the perpetrator.
Victims are left in isolation to deal with their injuries alone,
sometimes losing their families, their churches, their friends,
their jobs, and are left fearful of turning to others in the same
profession as their abuser for the help they need.
Even when there are professional organizations which have genuine
concern for consumers, they are limited in what they can reasonably
offer victims given both the reality and perception of their
built-in conflict of interest. Furthermore, there are some in
professional roles who operate on their own, completely outside of
either professional organizations or the requirements of licensure.
Examples would include a large number of people who call themselves
"counselors" (although there are some professional
organizations to which they could belong, and the fact that some
states license them), clergy operating outside formal faith groups,
and a variety of types of "therapists."
By offering these resources to victims and their families,
AdvocateWeb also offers a unique referral resource for those who are
assisting them. Therapists cannot themselves deal with the isolation
that such people feel nor satisfy their needs to network.
Furthermore, many victims seek, and benefit from, reading materials
related to abuse, something that they can access through
AdvocateWeb.
AdvocateWeb offers hope for victims, family members and others
who are "secondary" or "associate" victims,
others affected by the abuse, and those who seek to assist them -
advocates, followup therapist, etc. Victims and their families do
not have to suffer alone. AdvocateWeb uses the Internet as a medium
for reaching a worldwide audience about this widespread problem,
breaking the isolation for victims. AdvocateWeb also addresses the
commonality of the problems which result for victims, independent of
the type of professional who violated them. Several advocate groups
have been formed over the years, but most focus on specific types of
abuse such as clergy sexual abuse, therapy abuse, or educator abuse.
AdvocateWeb spans these professions, bringing victims together for
peer support and uniting professionals, experts, authors, ethicists,
educators, and advocates to further empower them in their advocacy
work. Bringing these advocates together, spanning professions and
spanning the world, brings power through unity and a stronger voice
to speak out against this type of abuse.
AdvocateWeb's impact begins with the information resources it
provides over the Internet, but does not stop there. Uniting victims
and advocates places AdvocateWeb in a central position to publish
the latest information about advocacy work, new legislation, links
to news stories, updates on what professional organizations are
doing (or not doing) to address these problems, and in the future: publish newsletters,
provide resources for the news media, foster the formation of local
survivor support groups, provide referrals for victims seeking
professional (counseling or legal) help, host retreats for victims,
and organize regional and world conferences for professionals and
victims.
The Team
AdvocateWeb involves a lot of people,
click here to read more about the AdvocateWeb
Team.
Advisory Council
AdvocateWeb is broadly endorsed, internationally, by a diverse
group of representatives from many different professions,
backgrounds, and areas of expertise, on our Advisory
Council.
Read more about our
Advisory Council...
We Need Your Support!
We need your help! We can only exist and grow through your
support.
How important is it that I support
AdvocateWeb?
The letters we receive from survivors all over the world are the
best statements of how important it is to support AdvocateWeb:
- "AdvocateWeb has literally saved my life..."
- "Without AdvocateWeb, I doubt that my marriage and my
family would have survived."
- "I felt so isolated before I found AdvocateWeb."
- "AdvocateWeb has been a lifeline for me and my
husband."
- "I thank God I found AdvocateWeb. The support I
have found here has made all the difference in the world."
- "The AdvocateWeb support group in which I participate has
actually helped me more than my weekly counseling."
Fact 1: When you support AdvocateWeb, you are helping
people all over the world at a time when they need help the most.
Fact: 2: Without your support, we cannot exist.
Statement of Cash Receipts and Disbursements
If you would like to see our Statement of Cash Receipts and
Disbursements for the past two years, we have that information
available online. Click Here.
You can make a tremendous difference in the lives of many, by
showing your support, right now:
View our current list of AdvocateWeb
Supporters (Benefactors, Sponsors, Advocates).
Thank you,
President and Founder, AdvocateWeb
More Information about AdvocateWeb
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Disclaimer
Exploitation
