 here today. I'm Christine Downs with the Denver Police Department. April is sexual assault awareness month and Wednesday is designated as start by believing day. A day that encourages everyone to believe victims of sex assault. Sounds simple but we obviously are here talking about it so something that we need to address. In a moment you will hear from Chief Thomas with the Denver Police Department, Assistant District Attorney Maggie Convoy, Megan Carvajal with the Blue Bench Executive Director, and Michelle Metz who is the St. Nurse Program Manager. But first it is my honor to introduce Kimberly Corbin, a brave survivor who is going to share with us the importance of believing. Thank you. Thank you everyone for being here today. My name is Kimberly Corbin and at 20 years old a stranger broke into my apartment, held me there for two hours and sexually assaulted me. I had to lay there believing that that was how I was going to die. What was the last thing that I had said to my parents, to my friends, to my brother? And it was in that moment that I never had to think about whether or not a crime was committed or whether I would call 911 if I survived. Two hours after this man broke in I dialed 911 on my phone and from that moment the dispatcher asked me what had happened. I was believed. The officers that came to my apartment that morning believed me. The victim advocates, the St. Nurse, everyone who came out and supported me believed me. My captor was caught and he was prosecuted and those prosecutors believed me. Everyone every step of the way made sure that there was accountability for the person who did this to me because they believed me. But we know that that's not always the case. What I hope that we all learn from Start By Believing Day is that while these words are simple, this is a philosophy. This is something that we take to heart, that we start by believing when someone discloses to us because it's not going to be the stranger who breaks into your apartment. It's the friend on a random Tuesday night that decides to confide in you that they may have been sexually abused, that they may have endured some kind of violence. And instead of saying, are you sure that's what happened? Well, you know, maybe you shouldn't have been there. We start by believing them because for survivors just like me, being believed sets us on a path to no longer be victims, but to instead transform ourselves into survivors. To be able to speak out and share my voice on a day like this is extremely humbling because I know that the impact this can have for other survivors or people who are looking to find their voices is profound. I encourage you to speak out and to reach out if you need help or crisis services. There are a lot of people here in Denver that are going to be speaking after me along with In Violence Against Women International that have these resources and the capacity to help you, to help me, to help survivors as a community because the only way that we get to hold offenders accountable and make sure that we have a community that starts by believing survivors starts with you and your response when someone confides in you. Thank you so much for being here today. My goodness Kimberly, thank you. Thank you for being here and sharing your story and helping us understand and demonstrating the importance of believing. I certainly wish you peace in your continued journey towards. So thank you. Thank you. So today we're honored to be here today to kick off our ninth year of the Start By Believing campaign, a campaign that teaches that how we react when confided in greatly matters to the survivor. Research shows that every 68 seconds someone is sexually assaulted in the U.S., making it very, very likely that you either know someone or will know someone that has been sexually assaulted. It's important to understand that how we respond when a friend, a child, a loved one, a co-worker tells you that they were sexually assaulted as that has an impact on whether or not they seek help and the help that they need and whether they report that to law enforcement. It's for this reason that Denver Police officers receive specialized training regarding sexual assault calls and how to best respond and interact with victims. Additionally, the different police department has victims' assistance who support survivors and educate them on their options for reporting the assault and that if they choose to move forward with a case we have dedicated teams of investigators who approach their cases with professionalism and compassion. We also partner with the Denver DA's office, the Blue Bench, Denver Health and the Sexual Assault Interagency Council, to ensure we are following best practices and providing the appropriate response to victims, which is today why we stand here all together encouraging the community to start by believing as we do. So now I'd like to introduce Maggie Conboy from the Denver District Attorney's office who will share a few words as well. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Thank you again for coming today to help raise awareness for the Start By Believing Campaign. I work for DA McCann and she very much regrets being unable to be here. She's out of town on a business matter and asked that I fill in for her. Like all of you in this room, I was very touched by Kimberly's story and inspired by her strength. I want to thank her for being so brave to come forward and to share her story for each other's survivors to come forward. I also want to thank Mayor Hancock, our friends and colleagues at the Denver Police Department, Denver Health, the Blue Bench and other community partners who've worked so hard to hold offenders accountable. We start by believing. And those are not just words. As Kimberly said, it is a philosophy for us. It is a guiding principle that we listen with open minds and open hearts when a survivor has the bravery and the strength to come forward and report a sexual assault. This campaign is about inspiring survivors to end their silence. We are all familiar with the research. A shockingly high number of sexual assaults go unreported. We are here to encourage survivors to come forward and to help feel safe that they will be listened to. Ultimately, if we are to hold sexual offenders accountable, we need people to come forward and report their abuse so that a full and fair investigation can begin. And then to trust us to remain part of the process throughout the criminal justice proceedings. And that's on us. And that's why we're here today to send that message. Teal is the official color of Sexual Assault Awareness Month because it represents trust, devotion, and healing. Thanks to our many community partners, you will notice that many of Denver's iconic buildings this month are illuminated in teal. We hope that this visible signal encourages survivors to end their silence and giving victims encouragement to come forward to report their experience and to trust that if they do, we will start by believing you. Thank you. I am honored to introduce Megan Carvajal, who is the Executive Director of Blue Bench. I'm Megan Carvajal, Executive Director of the Blue Bench. We are Metro Denver's Survivor Support Center working to support survivors of sexual assault and prevent sexual assault through prevention education. When survivors of sexual violence are not believed, they are less likely to seek support from loved ones, from the criminal justice system, and from centers like the Blue Bench to receive counseling and advocacy. This means that they are missing a key support system that is supposed to help them on their healing journey. At the Blue Bench, believing survivors is our core fundamental value, but we can't be the only ones working towards this goal. Start by believing day matters, but it needs to be more than just a day. It needs to be a movement. It must become a movement of individuals inside and outside the criminal justice system so that we together create a culture that survivors feel supported and where they feel safe and where they feel hurt. They will come forward when they are believed. We all play a role in creating a system that is restorative and centers justice for survivors. Thank you for participating and start by believing day and thank you for making it something that we can all be a part of until sexual violence no longer exists in Metro Denver. It's my pleasure to introduce my friend Michelle Metz. Hello, I'm Michelle Metz and I'm the forensic nurse program manager at Denver Health. Denver Health recognizes the importance of providing specialized care for victims of sexual assault. After a sexual assault, victims may choose to come to the hospital to have a medical forensic exam. Taking the steps to come and receive care at such a vulnerable time can be very difficult, which is why it is so important that Denver Health, my team, and myself start by believing. Start by believing creates a safe environment. For a patient to receive the care they need and deserve without fear of being judged, patients are in control. They're in control of the care they receive regardless of if or when they want to participate in the criminal justice system. And while it's hard to capture tangible numbers or data on who was believed and the impact that it has been made, I can tell you in my own experience the last 16 years of taking care of patients who have been impacted by sexual violence, there has been a change. There's been a cultural change. There's been a change in our multidisciplinary teams of conversations and an openness, but also with patients. When patients come forward with a complaint of sexual assault, they seem to know that that we in the hospital aren't there to question them. We're not there to judge them. We are there to provide them with the care that they need and deserve. I can say firsthand that being believed makes a tremendous impact. Denver Health starts by believing. Christine. Thank you to all of these speakers and their agencies they represent. We have people here from our advocacy investigators, and we know that it takes everybody, everybody believing, everybody doing their part, which is hard work, challenging work at times. And we thank you for your work that you do throughout the month of April on our social media platforms at Denver Police. We will be discussing sexual assault awareness, consent in the importance of it, and start by believing. To find more, to find additional resources, you can visit denvergov.org slash start by believing. And then as mentioned by District Attorney Maggie Convoy, ball arena, McNichol's building, City and County building, and then a couple buildings that the Center of Performing Arts will be teal tonight. So I encourage you to go drive around, look and see what's out there, because they're supporting this cause as all are you, which we appreciate. Thank you.