Victim advocates serve as the go-between for prosecutors and victims of crime, typically domestic violence or abuse crimes. Advocates help victims, also characterized as witnesses, understand the legal process and vocalize the wishes of the victims.
“I believe a victim, who is truly a victim, needs support,” said Etta Caver, a Butler County victim advocate who’s worked five years alongside Evans.
Caver can identify with domestic violence all too well. She landed in two violent relationships because she didn’t recognize the signs.
“I thought it was me,” Caver said of her first abusive relationship. She met her ex-husband at age 15 and endured abuse throughout 18 years of marriage. She divorced her abuser at age 33, then was involved with a more violent man who broke bones in her face and caused her to miscarry their child.
“It’s almost like a sigh of relief for them when they know I’ve gone through that,” Caver said about victims she represents.
Since freeing herself from bad relationships, Caver has obtained social work degrees, graduating in June from the University of Cincinnati at age 55. She also is a ordained minister.
She was a part-time victim advocate for the county after a five-year stint in Middletown Municipal Court. As the full-time advocate for Butler County as of Aug. 17, she assists victims in Area I and II courts and in the Fairfield, Hamilton, and Middletown municipal courts.
Outside the courtroom, Caver busies herself as a victim education class instructor and public speaker, giving teens and adults the warning signs of abusive relationships.
“We really try to make them see they need to get away from their abuser,” Evans said of advocates.
Victim advocates are important to the legal system because they add more voices to court cases, said Evans.
Though advocates are in place to present the victim’s side of things, Middletown Law Director Les Landen said that doesn’t always mean the case ends in the victim’s favor.
“You’re never going to satisfy everyone all the time,” Landen said.
The real job of an advocate, Landen said, is to explain why things happened in court the way they did.
Evans and Caver know the job also means a lot of pep talks and listening to someone who, otherwise, may not speak up.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2511 or dwilson@coxohio.com.
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