As evening descended on the Central Coast Monday, a group of county residents gathered in downtown Santa Maria to stand up for the rights of survivors of sexual assault.

The intimate candlelight vigil was held in an effort to bring a voice to survivors of sexual violence who are often silenced by the stigma that surrounds the issues of rape and sexual assault.

Keeping rape quiet doesn't mean it's not happening, explained Ann McCarty, associate director of the North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center.

Exactly 79 acts of attempted forcible rape were reported to the Santa Maria Police Department in 2006. In all, there were 136 reported acts of attempted forcible rape in North Santa Barbara County in 2006.

However, according to McCarty, statistics show that only 1 in 10 people reports rape to the police.

That would mean there were approximately 790 rapes in Santa Maria and a total of 1,360 in North Santa Barbara County.

“To me, that is just an alarming statistic,” said McCarty. “We would rather have 100 people report, because that means there's 100 people getting assistance.”

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But she is well aware that reporting rape or sexual assault is no easy task.

“Reporting a sexual assault is very personal,” said McCarty.

After all, according to McCarty, nationwide statistics show that 85 percent of rapes are committed by a person the victim knows; and that statistic is echoed in the experiences of victims McCarty's agency serves.

“The bulk of what we see is non-stranger assault,” said McCarty, adding that the myth of a rapist who jumps out from behind the bushes at night is one that needs to be erased.

Regardless of their attacker, victims tend to blame themselves, wonder what people will think, and are usually convinced they must have deserved it.

“That's what we have to change,” said McCarty.

Still, she added, “I think people have to do what feels right to them.”

On one hand, McCarty said, she wants all perpetrators off the street. On the other hand, she wants victims to take care of their own emotional well-being first.

So, her No. 1 message to victims of rape and sexual assault is to seek help, whether it's with the police or with an agency like hers.

The North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center has been assisting the community since 1974.

“It amazes me still as long as we've been in the communities that people still don't know about our agency,” said McCarty. She points to the stigma that surrounds rape and sexual assault for the center's low profile.

The agency has two branches, a new, main office in Lompoc (at 511 E. Ocean Ave.), and a satellite office in Santa Maria (at 301 S. Miller St., Suite 103). The agency also operates two 24-hour hotlines, one in Lompoc and one in Santa Maria.

Although they are located in just those two offices, the agency actually covers a much bigger area, from the Gaviota Pass to the northern Santa Barbara County border and all of the county's communities in between: Santa Ynez, Buellton, Solvang, Los Alamos, Lompoc, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Guadalupe and Santa Maria.

“When you think of our center, you can think about it as two sides of a house,” said McCarty. Those two essential sides are intervention and education.

On the intervention side of the house, the center has a representative on the police department sexual assault response teams. That representative makes sure that the victim is aware that they have a right to a sexual assault advocate - something they often don't know, said McCarty.

While law enforcement does its job in responding to a scene and collecting evidence, a sexual assault advocate can provide emotional support to a victim.

That advocate can also continue to support the victim through the process of reporting a rape, and through the potentially laborious legal process of prosecuting an assailant, which can take years.

“That's very discouraging,” said McCarty. “Nobody wants to go through that.”

But that's where the center and its advocates come in. “We're like cheerleaders,” said McCarty.

The center recently started a support group program for sexual assault survivors in Santa Maria. Support groups of four to six people meet for 10 weeks, then on a monthly basis to follow up.

A similar program has been successful in Lompoc for nearly 10 years.

The agency recently received funding from the Fund for Santa Barbara, which will enable them to train Spanish-speaking advocates. The fund also provided money for Spanish-language self-defense classes.

“Having more Spanish-speaking advocates is a great need,” said McCarty.

The agency has both paid staff members and a volunteer force. Volunteer advocates get 49 hours of training in a 10-week training course. They learn to educate the public by conducting educational programs and to advocate for victims by working the center's hotlines.

According to McCarty, volunteers are key to the success of the center. “They really are the life blood of our whole agency,” she said.

Josue Medrano of Santa Maria, for example, has been a hotline volunteer for three years. He joined the agency's efforts when he was seeking a volunteer position while he worked toward a master's degree in criminology. As a hotline volunteer, he is on call for 12-hour shifts, waiting for operators to route crisis calls to him.

In addition to volunteers like Medrano, nine staff members run the Lompoc office, four are in the Santa Maria office and one is stationed at the Lompoc Police Department. All staff receives the same training the volunteer advocates receive.

That consistency has kept the center functioning smoothly for more than 30 years, said Dorian Hodge of Lompoc, president of the board of directors of the center.

She believes that by maintaining a public dialogue about rape and its effect on the community, awareness will grow among survivors, giving them the strength to speak out. And perhaps through awareness some sexual assault can be prevented altogether.

“Ideally, if you're aware of it, then you can prevent it,” said Hodge.

Although this week's candlelight vigil was held at the end of the month to bring April, which is designated as sexual assault awareness month, to a close, the march against rape goes on.

“We may mark a calendar month, but we need to talk about these issues all year long,” said McCarty.

GET HELP:

If you are the victim of rape of sexual assault, seek help at the North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center.

Lompoc:

Hot line: 736-7273

Office: 511 E. Ocean; 736-8535

Santa Maria:

Hot line : 928-3554

Office: 301 S. Miller, Suite 103; 922-2994

ONLINE:

Visit www.sbcountyrapecris is.org for more information about the agency.

GET INVOLVED:

The North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center is planning several fundraisers for this year:

May 20: Kids Day in the Park, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Waller Park, Santa Maria. Games, food, entertainment and information for families. $12.

Aug. 11: Frank Sinatra Tribute Concerts, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Royal Scandinavian Inn, Solvang.

Nov. 17: Fundraiser auction, Santa Ynez Valley Marriott, Buellton.

Dec. 1: Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts dinner play, 5 p.m., Marian Theater, Santa Maria.

For more details on the upcoming fundraiser events, contact the center at 736-8535 (Lompoc) or 922-2994 (Santa Maria).

Emily Welly can be reached at 739-2220 or ewelly@santamaria times.com.