Dec 14, 2022
This is PART 4, the final episode of a four-part series; an interview of Samantha McCoy. Talking to hundreds of people in an podcast interview, about something as deeply personal and hurtful as the trauma of rape, takes a tremendous amount of strength and courage; two things that all four of the guests in this series have demonstrated in an amazing, meaningful, and helpful way. And Samantha’s story of rape and recovery is as powerful as the previous three stories you’ve heard during this series. During my interview with her, Samantha tells about the shock and terror of waking up from a drug induced state of unconsciousness, to finding out that not only was she raped by someone who she cared for and was close to, but also that the perpetrator video recorded the rape…and digitally distributed it to many of her close friends and colleagues. And to add insult to injury, this perpetrator was a police officer!
Samantha’s story reflects the many aspects of trauma that most victims of rape experience…fear, confusion, anger, frustration, shame, embarrassment…all of which are compounded by the physiological symptoms that accompany any severe physical and mental trauma: repeated nightmares, intrusive memories, physical symptoms of emotional breakdown, sensory activators of trauma such as sights, sounds, body positions, and somatic pain; all common responses and reactions to trauma. The way Samantha tells her story is emotionally gripping. And hearing about the way she was treated by law enforcement after reporting her rape is equally gripping…and aggravating: no one deserves to go through what Samantha went through when she reported her rape.
Yet, through it all, Samantha found a channel for recovery and surviving…and uses that channel to help hundreds of thousands of other victims and survivors. Listen to her story of becoming a lawyer in direct response to being raped; and learn of what she’s done:
Samantha McCoy is an attorney and activist fighting for legislative change in our legal system addressing responses to survivors of violence. First in her many achievements, Samantha was instrumental in passing Indiana’s Senate Bill 146 in March of 2020, ensuring rights of survivors of sexual violence, including the right to have a confidential advocate with you during law enforcement questioning and at the emergency room as well as more trauma-informed responses when a survivor discloses abuse. Samantha additionally testified during Indiana’s 2020 Summer Legislative Study Committee advocating for an expansion and clarification on the definition of “consent” in the Indiana criminal statute.
Samantha went on to successfully lobby for Texas HB 2706 in June of 2021, similarly ensuring trauma-informed approaches and an expansion of rights for survivors of sexual violence.
Samantha further successfully lobbied for Connecticut HB 5278 in May of 2022, ensuring explicit consent is obtained prior to the performance of intimate examinations by medical students and other medical professionals.
In July of 2022, Samantha testified at the United Nations Headquarters advocating for the passage of the first-ever standalone United Nations Resolution addressing and ensuring rights for all survivors of sexual violence. This Resolution passed in September of 2022, making history.
In recognition of this work, Samantha was the recipient of the 2022 Purple Ribbon Outstanding Legislative Partner Award by DomesticShelters.
Samantha is working on further changes for survivors in the upcoming 2023 state and federal legislative sessions.
This isn’t the end of the stories of my four amazing guests: the influence and impact of their stories carries on in all that they are accomplishing in their personal and professional lives. And who knows…you may have the thrill of listening to all of them in one collective round-table on this podcast! It’s something I am working on bringing to you in a future episode!
Share Samantha’s amazing episode with your family, friends, and colleagues. Please subscribe to this podcast and rate each episode you listen to. Growing the audience of this podcast is key to helping bring justice to victims and survivors; we all should do our part to doing just that, and subscribing to this podcast, whether you listen to all the episodes or not, is helpful and greatly appreciated; because we all know someone whose life has been affected by rape or sexual assault. And remember to Start by Believing.
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