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WRC Employee receives state lady justice award
RADFORD, Va., July 29, 2008 – Tamy Mann, the Legal Advocacy program coordinator at the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley, has received the Themis Award (Lady Justice) from the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance.
“It’s such an honor to receive this award and to be recognized for this kind of work with the survivors of domestic and sexual violence,” Mann said. “I feel fortunate to be able to work with survivors and the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley and to be able to help those who need help.”
The Themis Award is named after the Greek goddess of law and order. In Mann’s role at the WRC, she helps adults who have experienced domestic and sexual violence understand the criminal justice system and understand their options. Mann does not follow the clock; she follows the needs of the client.
“At the Women's Resource Center, Tamy is Lady Justice,” said Pat Brown, executive director of the center. “She has provided leadership to the legal advocacy program, and she has provided dedicated assistance to those victims who are going through the court systems.”
After 12 years of work with the WRC, Mann’s dedication to her work comes from her own sense of injustice that survivors face. “I get so frustrated with the way victims are treated by their perpetrators, so I want them to know all the options available to them. After I talk with them, they know they have choices and that they’re not alone. And if anyone can make court less scary to someone, that is always helpful.”
While at the WRC, Mann has developed working relationships with key players in the criminal justice community, including law enforcement, commonwealth’s attorneys, bailiffs, judges, court clerks and anyone who would affect the experience of the victim.
Mann has always been interested in the deaf community, and is currently pursuing a degree in sign language. This skill has been helpful in working with deaf victims, in educating other allied professionals about needs, concerns and issues in the deaf community, and in advocating directly with the court system to ensure that the rights of deaf victims are honored.
Recently Mann became independently involved with a grassroots group working to develop a supervised visitation and exchange center to our area. Mann took on the primary role in developing the training for the volunteers, ensuring that issues of family violence played an important role in the training.
Mann’s view of changing the world is a unique one as well. “You’re not going to change the world at one time, but you can try to stop domestic violence one person at a time. You look for the small things.”
In looking for those small things, Mann retells the story of a woman she worked with whose story has remained with her. In helping this woman with her domestic violence situation, Mann used humor as a tool in her conversations. This woman was used to having to control her every move with her partner, and did not include laughter. “The last day that I saw her, she wanted to thank me because I made her laugh. She hadn’t laughed in over two years. I didn’t make the earth shattering change, but I made someone smile and laugh. I helped her recapture a part of her life. You start with the little changes and hope for the big changes.”
The Action Alliance is a statewide coalition dedicated to raising awareness about sexual and domestic violence, increasing public access to resources and services, and changing state policy.
The Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley, a non-profit, human service organization, has been providing hope and help to victims of domestic and sexual violence for the last 30 years. The Women’s Resource Center, the oldest in Virginia, provided programs and services to 3,340 children and adults in Radford and Floyd, Giles, Montgomery and Pulaski counties last year. It also serves New River Valley Community College, Radford University and Virginia Tech campuses. Its mission is to create a community free of domestic violence and sexual assault through services, support and education.