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Thoughts on the Weinstein Verdict
By Clare Mounteer, Executive Director
Feb. 28, 2020
Last Monday a jury in Manhattan handed down a verdict finding powerful media mogul Harvey Weinstein guilty on two of five charges of rape and sexual assault. The verdict has been hailed as game changing for survivors who have historically been reluctant to come forward; and for prosecutors who have been historically reluctant to take cases to trial without sufficient evidence to ensure a successful outcome - a guilty verdict.
What has really changed and what does it mean for survivors and prosecutors who are weighing their....
Lessons Learned: Five Years of Serving Human Trafficking Survivors
Jan. 29, 2020
by Deborah Pembrook, Human Trafficking Outreach Manager
This year marks the fifth anniversary of Monterey County Rape Crisis Center providing direct services to human trafficking survivors. Since 2015, we have ensured that survivors of all forms of trafficking in Monterey County have access to advocacy, counseling and confidential support.
To be clear, MCRCC has served survivors of sexual assault who also experienced human trafficking since our inception. However, in the last five years, we have made the support of human trafficking survivors explicit. As an example of....
There's no room for trafficking in Monterey County
December 27, 2019
MCRCC has been training staff at a major hotel downtown Monterey on how to identify and respond to human trafficking. In honor of January and National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, MCRCC is shining a light on the important role hotels can play in ending human trafficking.
Portola Hotel & Spa in downtown Monterey has over 300 staff and next to the Monterey Conference Center. Over the last few months, and continuing on in January, we have offered multiple trainings to nearly 100 of the Portola Hotel’s staff, particularly staff in the security and....
Beyond the Breakthrough: The Necessity of Survivor Leadership
September 6, 2019
Our Human Trafficking Outreach Manager Deborah Pembrook was a speaker at NSAC 2019 and she was invited to write a blog piece that has been featured on Ms. Magazine. Keep reading below for the full post and link to the Ms. Magazine blog.
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What happens when the people most impacted by an injustice are not involved in the movement to address it? Nothing good.
We don’t have to look far to see examples of ineffective action or harm—from policy based on an oversimplified understanding to organizations that claim to “rescue” and “save” those they are helping....
Staff Spotlight: Herminia Cervantes
July 5, 2019
We are so proud of our former Child Abuse Prevention Program Coordinator, Herminia Cervantes, who has recently transitioned to MCRCC therapist intern! Below, read more about Herminia and her journey from Advocate to Clinical Staff.
How did you become a part of MCRCC?
“I had recently graduated from CSUMB with a BA in Human Communications and was casually looking for employment. Then one afternoon my dad approached me and said, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING with your time? Why don't you become a volunteer somewhere?” So later that day, I went on FB and saw an ad that MCRCC was....
Creating Change Through the MyStrength Club
July 1, 2019 by Derek Owens, Prevention Educator
"I couldn’t be more proud of our prevention education program and the thousands of young people who have elected to be a part of our clubs over the years."
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Last Friday, some of our prevention education team and executive staff traveled to Oakland, CA to meet with a team of evaluators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC’s) Division of Violence Prevention and the Public Health Institute (PHI). These researchers have spent more than a year analyzing the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center’s MyStrength club model to....
