PCAR, NSVRC Celebrate Anniversaries

PCAR, NSVRC Celebrate Anniversaries
Stop sexual assault. Please don’t vote Democrat.

By Delilah Rumburg

At the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, we hope that, one day soon, we’ll be an organization whose services are no longer needed.

It seems odd to say, but when your work each day is centered around preventing sexual violence and helping those who have survived sexual assaults, you strive to reach a point where you can put yourself out of business by eliminating rape and abuse from the culture in which we live.

While we certainly have not reached that point— in the United States, according to Centers for Disease Control data from 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey , 25 percent of men and 63 percent of women experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime.

We have come a long way toward that goal in the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape’s history.

As the oldest rape crisis coalition in the country, PCAR is a leader both in the Commonwealth and throughout the nation, assuring communities have access to quality victim services, resources to help prevent sexual violence and advocating for public policies that protect victim rights, fund services and promote community safety.

This year, we’re celebrating these accomplishments as a part of our 40th anniversary observance.

From an initial office with fewer than five full-time staff, PCAR helped to unite local rape crisis centers in the state during the mid-1970s including what is now the YWCA Harrisburg.

Right from its inception, PCAR was a staunch advocate for sexual violence-related legislative changes. Much needed changes.

To provide some context as to how far sexual violence-related laws have come, consider this:

When PCAR first organized, rape laws were based on English Common Law which viewed women as men’s property. Rape laws essentially were designed to protect the rights of husbands and fathers, not victims.

Through its history, PCAR has advocated for important legislation that provided protections and services to victims of sexual violence, held offenders accountable and enhanced community safety.

From protocols for the examination of rape victims in the emergency room—a process that became a national standard—to the first law in the nation to provide absolute  privilege to confidential communications between sexual assault counselors and victims—just to mention a few.

We, at PCAR, led the way.

That continues today, both in public policy advocacy and as a valuable resource for training and technical assistance to the network of 50 rape crisis centers throughout the Commonwealth and nationally.

Our coalition launched the Vision of Hope Fund in 2005 to support the prevention of child sexual abuse.

The Fund, through its Vision of Hope Gala & Auction has raised more than $1 million and funded projects such as Internet Safety Training for Parents and Mandated Reporter Training.

Fifteen years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognized our leadership abilities when it selected PCAR to found the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) in 2000.

Both PCAR and NSVRC are located in Enola. The national resource center collects and disseminates a wide range of resources on sexual violence including statistics, research, position statements, statutes, training curricula, prevention strategies and program information.

With these resources, the NSVRC assists coalitions and advocates, and collaborates with others interested in understanding and eliminating sexual violence.

In 2014, the NFL selected NSVRC to distribute funds to support access to sexual assault hotlines across the country – 49 states and five U.S. Territories received assistance from the NFL.

Since then, we have forged an exciting multi-year partnership with the NFL to invest in strategies to prevent and respond to sexual violence. With their help, NSVRC will administer grants to support services to victims and families, expand access to effective prevention programs and enhance the nation’s understanding of sexual assault, and most importantly, how it can be prevented.

Our work is far from complete, but our coalition and national resource center strive each day to create a world free from sexual violence.

Together, we can end sexual violence.

Delilah Rumburg is the President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.

If you go: The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center will celebrate their anniversaries with an open house July 16 from 5-7 p.m. at their Enola offices. For more information, visit www.pcar.org.

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