Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Rape Crisis Center reports jump in hotline calls, time counseling victims

The Rape Crisis Center on Monday reported a 27 percent jump in calls to its hotline last year and said counselors spent twice as many hours helping rape victims.

Officials at the Las Vegas nonprofit noted that the center didn’t see an uptick in rape victims and said in a prepared statement that the busier year “may...reflect the organization’s more effective outreach.”

“Thanks to outreach campaigns to local doctor’s offices, hospitals and clinics ... we believe we are reaching targeted audiences in need of our services,” center Director Daniele Dreitzer said, noting that the crisis center also hired a Spanish-speaking counselor last year.

“We are working harder and smarter to ensure the community, and especially teens and young adults in the age group most likely to experience sexual assault, ages 18 to 24, know they can receive help and access services from the Rape Crisis Center 365 days a year,” Dreitzer said.

In 2014, the center’s 24-hour rape victims’ hotline received 3,988 calls, up from 2,915 in 2013.

The center also said its education programs reached 12,570 Clark County School District students last year, up 12 percent compared with the previous year.

The number of victims seen by crisis center volunteers at University Medical Center has remained largely unchanged over the past three years, hovering between 550 and 600.

Of the 552 victims crisis center volunteers met at the hospital in 2014:

• Nearly a third (32.5 percent) were ages 18 to 24.

• 28 percent were ages 25 to 34.

• 13.4 percent were ages 17 and younger.

“Clearly, these numbers confirm the fact that young adults constitute our most vulnerable population for sexual assault,” Dreitzer said.

The Rape Crisis Center celebrates its 40th anniversary this week.

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