Tribute to an Advocate :
Gail Burns-Smith
(12/1/1946 – 9/5/2009)
Many of you may know Gail Burns-Smith
for her tireless efforts advocating for victims
of sexual assault and abuse. Indeed, Gail was so dedicated to and effective in securing rights, services, and resources for victims,
not being acquainted with Gail through her work would have been unlikely. Though she officially retired as Executive Director of Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services (CONNSACS) in 2004, she continued to contribute to various organizations, and her name continued to be mentioned in the most admirable of ways. Even to this day, Gail maintains a kind of “rock-star” status in the sexual assault crisis movement.
The admiration is well deserved. Gail became the very first Executive Director of Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services in 1982. She was the only staff member at that time, but the organization’s capacity grew considerably under her leadership over the years. Due to Gail’s efforts, laws were passed in Connecticut to: prohibit police from giving polygraphs to sexual assault victims; address stalking offenses; require mandatory sexual harassment training for supervisors of employers with 50 or more employees; and address numerous other injustices or needs. Gail’s advocacy also resulted in funds for rape crisis services being supported, in part, through a Marriage License Surcharge. Gail established a statewide Spanish hotline, one of only two in the country, and secured funding to hire bilingual, bicultural, Spanish-speaking advocates at six sexual assault crisis centers in Connecticut. She also obtained funding to provide TTY machines for every one of the sexual assault crisis centers to ensure that deaf and hearing impaired victims could more easily access services. Gail provided leadership and support that was crucial to the development and implementation of the national Women of Color Leadership Project, a program so successful that it evolved into its own nonprofit organization, Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault (SCESA). Gail partnered with the Center for the Treatment of Problem Sexual Behavior to create a new collaborative approach to sex offender supervision, which was recognized by the Center for Sex Offender Management as a national model; by the way, what made this model unique and powerful was the inclusion of a victim advocate (yes!) as a vital member of the team managing sex offenders. Gail also co-founded the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, an organization that was instrumental in securing passage of the National Violence Against Women Act, which resulted in much needed funding to ensure that victims of sexual assault and other violence received services. This is a partial list of what Gail was able to accomplish, but you get the picture.
For those of us fortunate enough to have worked closely with Gail, the experience is perhaps best summed up as simply an amazing privilege, a gift. Gail was considered by many in the sexual assault crisis movement to be a founding mother, mentor, and friend. Indeed, Gail taught us a lot about being an advocate. She was consistently respectful to the “opposition” yet somehow always managed to “hold their feet to the fire” if necessary. Gail had a strong sense of what was morally right—accompanied by a philosophy that there are times when one should just do what is right without first asking permission and then beg forgiveness later if needed. She understood how to push an issue without pushing people around. Gail had integrity.
When Gail retired, she did not want a lot of fanfare. What was agreeable to her was to establish a scholarship fund in her name, and the Gail Burns-Smith “Dare to Dream” Fund was born. Every year since the fund was started in 2004, a scholarship or stipend is granted to an individual whose work or study in the field of sexual violence most exemplifies Gail’s commitment to the field. The greatest retirement gift, from Gail’s perspective, was for the work—from policy advocacy to primary prevention to victim services—to continue and for those doing the work to be supported.
As we say goodbye to Gail today, we have an opportunity to pay tribute to her once again. We can be the people who advocate for and on behalf of sexual assault victims. We can be the people who support victim-responsive policies, practices, and services. We can make sure, each of us in our own way, that the work continues.
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