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The 55-year-old women's advocate and counselor vividly discussed the torments of her sexual and physical abuse in front of an audience of nearly 100 people at Centennial Hall on Thursday night as part of the "Take Back The Night March & Rally" sponsored by the AWARE Shelter.

"I have let go of things and have moved on, but it takes healing," Santiago said after the rally. "Having a group like this where they're listening to you and people are personally standing up and saying 'this happened to me,' that's a healing process."

However, getting up in front of a group of strangers to talk about personal suffering is no easy task, she said.

"It was scary because you're taught to be ashamed of things that have happened to you, or you are conditioned to feel ashamed that it happened to you," Santiago said.

Saralyn Tabachnick, executive director of the AWARE Shelter, said domestic violence and sexual assault are significant problems in Juneau. She said many people think they don't know people who have experienced such abuse in this community, but that is most likely because the victims do not feel comfortable talking about it.

"When we take away the shame and people feel comfortable or safe to talk about it, I think people will realize they do know many people," Tabachnick said.

Rape statistics are staggering, according to literature available at the rally. One flyer said Alaska has a rape rate that is 2.5 times the national average; only one in 10 rapes are reported; and 80 percent of all rapes are committed by someone the victim knows.

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Although many of the speakers relayed heart-wrenching stories at the rally, there was cause to celebrate Thursday night, Tabachnick said. Gov. Frank Murkowski signed SB 218 into law at the rally. The bill dramatically increases minimum sentencing and probation for sex offenders.

"Now we have the toughest sexual assault legislation in the United States," said Sen. Con Bunde, R-Anchorage, who sponsored the bill.

Murkowski said the new law increases the minimum sentencing for the most heinous sex crimes to 25 years in prison, up from the previous minimum of 8 years.

"I think that it sends a strong message that this is not OK and it will not be tolerated," Tabachnick said.

Several state and local leaders also spoke at the rally, including First Lady Nancy Murkowski and Juneau Deputy Mayor Randy Wanamaker. Juneau Police Department acting police Chief Greg Browning said sexual and domestic violence is a major issue in Alaska's capital city. He said Juneau has a higher rate of such crimes than the state average.

"We have a big mountain to climb," Browning told the audience. He said conquering the problem is a top priority of JPD.

Tabachnick said a major reason why victims of sexual abuse and domestic assault do not come forward with the issue is because of the isolation they feel. She said people who don't want to contact police or tell their friends or family about such abuse can call AWARE's crisis hotline at 586-1090 for confidential counseling.

"They need to take care of themselves, so to break the isolation is a tremendously huge thing because they get a different message," Tabachnick said. "We can say 'this isn't your fault.' 'You haven't done anything wrong.' 'You didn't deserve this to happen to you.'"

Santiago said it is important for people to listen to what the young people tell them when it comes to abuse.

"If they're saying something happened, let them express that instead of everybody covering it up and making pretend that it didn't happen," she said. "The children need to be heard."

Tabachnick said it was nice to see so many young people coming forward to speak out at the rally.

"It's so empowering to see the young people speak out and talk It really is," she said. "That means that there is some comfort inside themselves and that they're able to share that. It's really healing and tremendous."