By the time Mayor Will Flanagan became a prosecutor, he thought he was adequately educated on the issues of sexual assault and violence.
As an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, he was a founding member of a cadre of college students who went to area high schools to talk to classes about date rape and child abuse.
But reading case files and speaking to witnesses when he was prosecuting criminals taught him even more, Flanagan said.
“Prosecutors are on the front lines, working with victims of sexual abuse and victims of child abuse,” Flanagan said. “We would see people at the worst point in their lives.”
What was worse was that reporting sexual abuse often deeply disrupted the lives of the victims and their children, Flanagan said.
“They were abused by the partners they relied on for housing or support,” he said. “Sometimes they felt guilt for what happened or for speaking about [...]

Original post by Kevin P. O’Connor