I went to Boston Police Headquarters to interview on March 4th, 2022.
We interviewed Officer Cabral. She usually comes to Showa Boston and talks to students about safety. However, she could not come here this year because of the COVID pandemic. Also, she worked Jamaica Police office, but she moved to Boston Police Headquarters, so we went there.
We asked 9 questions. Through this interview, I understood that the situation of abuse/violence is similar in America and Japan. For example, the number of abuse is increasing because of the pandemic. Some adults lost their job because of this pandemic, and they were angry, had a lot of stress, so they tried to release their stress to abuse for children and/or women. Also, even they know how to consult, they do not do that because they are afraid, feel ashamed. Sometimes, they do not notice that they get abuse.
Finally, we asked “what can we do to help abused people?” She said two things. First is support them, and second is cooperate with them. If you are consulted or notice, you need to tell the police, adults, and specialists. She also said that the police sometimes do workshops, so we need to join it and know how to tell.
It is important for all of them to know what abuse is, how to consult and so on. I think this interview was really useful for my research topic. I want to talk with her more and more.
Ayaka Takeda