Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Why didn’t they leave?
Julie Olson, Executive Director of the Advocate Safehouse Project (ASP), said this is a question she hears frequently from those outside of an abusive relationship looking in. But the moment a survivor decides to leave is actually when they are in the most danger.
“Well, it’s not that simple. This is not a stranger. This is someone where there’s been a pattern and history of tactics to gain power and control of the (survivor),” Olson said.
The Advocate Safehouse Project is a nonprofit serving survivors of domestic or sexual abuse in the Western Slope region. Resources like their 24-hour help line (which can be accessed by two different numbers, 970-945-4439 & 970-285-0209) have been operated remotely since 1987. The organization also began offering bicultural and bilingual resources in 1996 and will serve undocumented immigrants as well.