To the editor: I am very pleased that columnist Robin Abcarian featured the work of Gail Abarbanel, who directed the Rape Treatment Center at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center for 50 years.
I was a grants administrator at UCLA in the campus office for research administration when I first met her. She was applying for a grant to support the center's activities and was unfamiliar with the tedious process of submitting applications through the UCLA campus research office.
While I was helping her, we met. She generously offered to give me a personal tour of the Rape Treatment Center and explain how it works. I have never forgotten the impact this tour had in shaping my understanding of the way rape victims had been treated.
She designed the waiting areas to be comfortable and quiet. Traumatized patients are treated with compassion and care.
To me, Gail Abarbanel is heroic.
Susan Waelder, North Hollywood
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To the editor: My heart sang as I read Abcarian's column recognizing Abarbanel's work as a leader and agent of change in the fields of rape and sexual assault treatment.
I was the first social work assistant he hired in 1974, for the Santa Monica Medical Center and Rape Treatment Center, and witnessed firsthand his passion and determination. She would only add one thing.
Over the years, Abarbanel also directly or indirectly taught and mentored countless social workers, paraprofessionals, social work students, and volunteers in the practice and profession to which she was so dedicated. This is another way she helped make the world a better place.
While my career ultimately took a different path, Abarbanel's mentorship influenced and inspired my work, and I am forever grateful.
Karen Hilfman, Los Angeles
