Survivor’s Message: ‘I Am Not Alone’

It was five years ago when Andrea Brone was kidnapped, beaten, raped, sodomized and stabbed 42 times by a man who lived in her neighborhood. Her attacker left her for dead when he abandoned her body in a trash container in an apartment alley.

But Brone, 26, survived the attack and now devotes her time sharing her experience with others.

In front of the UC Irvine main library Wednesday evening, Brone was joined by more than 100 people who raised white candles in a vigil to bring attention to rape and sexual assaults.

“For years, I felt like an outcast” because of what had happened, Brone said. “But now, when I speak to others, I realize I am not alone.”

One in three women are raped or are victims of some form of sexual assault, according to officials with the Sexual Assault Victim Services, which operates two rape crisis centers in Orange County. Last year, the centers assisted more than 1,800 victims of rape and child sexual abuse by providing counseling, hospital responses, helping with police reports and performing other services.

Brone, who works with the centers based in Irvine and Santa Ana, said the only way to prevent the number from increasing is to raise awareness about rape.

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Wednesday’s candlelight vigil, organized by the crisis centers and UCI, was part of national effort to do just that. Rape crisis centers throughout the state held similar programs on Wednesday.

“We need to provide more support and services to help rape victims come forward. Rape is a crime that is still underreported,” said Martha Edgley, supervisor of the Sexual Assault Victim Services.

At the UCI vigil, students and passersby listened as Brone and other rape survivors read poems and recounted their experiences and how they worked through them. By the end of the testimonials, several women voluntarily spoke about their attacks.

One woman talked about being raped at age 15 by a teen she knew since she was in junior high school. A 46-year-old women said she was raped three months ago while on a date. And another woman told how she was raped five years ago by her then-boyfriend.

But the discussion on rape is not exclusively for women, said Brett Wheeler, a UCI staffer who teaches self defense to students.

“As far as I’m concerned, rape is a man’s issue too,” Wheeler said at the lectern. “That’s because most rapes are committed by men.”

Anyone seeking help or who would like to volunteer at the Sexual Assault Victim Services can call the 24-hour hotline at (714) 957-2737.