Provide names of other journalists involved.
Izidio Contreras–Photographer and Editor
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Nov-12
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
I consider the topic of incest to be that of a health issue. The physical and emotional effects heavily impact, not only the victims, but also the family members and those closest to them. The two-part series featured an interview with a 16 year old female victim of incest who was sexually abused by her father. It is very rare for a victim of such a crime to come forward and be open with their experiences. After airing the series, our station recieved more than 45 messages coming from either victims or relatives of victims asking for guidance and more information to aid them in their cases. It was brought to our attention that this crime is more common among the Hispanic community than one might imagine.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
I accuired documents from the CDC and the Bexar County District Attourney offices. The revealed statistics showing that every thirty seconds, a child becomes a victim of some kind of abuse. Of those cases, 35% are of a sexual nature. A majority of these cases go unreported because the vicims are unwilling to come forward with their horrific experiences.
Explain types of human sources used.
The victim’s on-camera testimony was so strong, that it stood alone to illustrate this delicate topic. Supporting interviews included the victim’s mother and an officer from the Bexar County District Attourney. An English translation of the victim’s testimony is provided and I hope that it does not dilute the impact of her story.
Results:
After the series aired, our station recieved many phone calls and other forms of communications from victims who were willing to come forward and share their experiences with me. I ended up doing two more stories on domestic violence and sexual abuse. Through these stories, we provided our viewers with information on how to get resources from local agencies.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
There were no follow-ups. We did air other stories with similar topics.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
When working on such a delicate topic, I suggest seeking legal advice before working on the story. The reason for this was because my subject was a 16 year old girl. Certian laws are designed to protect the identies of such victims if they are minors. In our case, the under-aged victim was more than willing to come forward and tell her story to our viewers. Release forms were provided to allow our cameras to capture this emotional interview and put a face to the crime. It was very important to us to go through the proper channels to legally portray this victim in the way we did.