Calls flood US sexual assault hotlines

The phones at U . S . sexual assault hotlines have been ringing in record numbers as the
# MeToo social movement spurs victims to reach out for help , sending organisations
scrambling to keep up.
Calls spiked when the movement began in October , with people waiting up to three
hours to talk to someone at the country’ s largest one , the National Sexual Assault
Hotline .
The number of calls to the hotline operated by the Rape , Abuse & Incest National
Network (RAINN ) surged 25 per cent in November from 2016 , and another 30 per cent in
December , according to RAINN.
Its 209, 480 total calls in 2017 were
the most for any year since its
founding in 1993 .

Last fall, actress Alyssa Milano of
the television show “ Charmed ”
asked women who had been
sexually assaulted or harassed to
post “ Me Too ” in response to
allegations made against movie
mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Weinstein , accused of sexual abuse
by dozens of women , has denied
having nonconsensual sexual
contact with anyone . Reuters has
not been able to independently confirm the accusations.
At the national hotline ’ s call center , the lights that workers flip on to indicate they are
on the phone never seemed to turn off , said Celia Gamboa , a manager at the national
hotline .

The chat app most callers prefer was flooded with messages, she said .
The # MeToo movement almost always came up .
“ It wasn ’ t just a one - time thing , ” Gamboa said . “ We’ re just going to continue to see that
type of flow into the future. ”
CEO Scott Berkowitz said RAINN added 40 employees to its staff of 200 and stepped up
volunteer recruiting.
He said that that has helped chip away at
the wait times.
Elsewhere , Network for Victim Recovery
of D . C . saw a spike in calls about sexual
harassment .
Executive Director Bridgette Stumpf said
that unfortunately , the center can often
only recommend private attorneys for
people whose harassment did not include
violence , adding such help may be too
expensive for many victims .

The DC Rape Crisis Center now sees an average of 70 people a week seeking legal ,
physical or psychological help , up from 30 to 40 before # MeToo, said Executive Director
Indira Henard . It also saw a bump in donations last fall following the #MeToo postings.
Henard said : “ it is for the record books .
“ I don ’ t believe there has ever been a time in our history when we talked about sexual
violence and its impact this way . ”

source: punchng.