Thirty years after rape crisis centers, women are being heard.
New facilities underscore the trend toward a gentler, more encompassing approach.
Instead, while she goes through the necessary medical treatment, evidence gathering, and questioning by police, she'll be cared for in a softly lit room with comfortable furnishings and pastel-painted walls. The full spectrum of care will be on hand, from trained counselors to practical amenities such as fresh clothing and toiletries. Rape affects all of us, and you are not alone. Out of that early movement came the early hotlines, staffed at first by untrained volunteers. Then in 1974, realizing that women who had been raped had nowhere to turn for help, Gail Abarbanel founded the Rape Treatment Center in Santa Monica, Calif., offering psychological intervention as well as medical help.