Advocate for victims of sexual assault calling out LSU for focusing on underage drinking as the problem surrounding Madi Brooks death
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BATON ROUGE - The high-profile death of Madison Brooks and the alleged rape prior to her demise have put a spotlight on several issues.
LSU President William F. Tate has taken a hard stance to crack down on underage drinking. He believes that is one of the main reasons for Brooks' death. However, local advocates for victims of sexual assault have an issue with that.
Morgan Lamandre is the CEO and President of S.T.A.R, Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response. She believes underage drinking is a big problem among LSU students but has concerns about the timing to address it.
“I think for that to be a problem that's addressed in response to what happened to Madison Brooks. Is definitely… it's not something that is an effective way to address what happened to her,” Lamandre said.
President Tate met with Tigerland bar owners Friday. The meeting was a direct response to Madi Brooks’ tragic death.
“What happened to her… deals with predators and rapists, and although they were not LSU students, it's still the culture of Louisiana,” Lamandre said.
She also says that Brooks' case is rare and it’s being handled differently than normal sexual assault cases.
“Usually state law protects the confidentiality of the victim's name until trial, you can’t publicly release it. But there is a gap in this situation because she died."
Even though Brooks died in a car accident, her family will carry the traumatic weight of everything that happens in her case.
“They are going to go through a very traumatic process because of the prosecution of these individuals for the rape, once again because their daughter is not here."