Hotline - The hotline is the “hub of services” for sexual assault survivors ensuring that what was once “kept a secret” can now be talked about, thereby, alleviating the shame. The hotline serves as the medium where a client is educated regarding the effects of rape, informed of what to do in certain crisis situations, provided crisis intervention services for a distraught survivor re-living her/his trauma, or notified by a participating hospital regarding the need for an advocate to be available to rape victims. The Center's Hotline also serves as the main source of contact for Bexar County’s Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), which is composed of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital, and CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children's Hospital, as well as volunteer advocates, Center staff and law enforcement agencies

.In 2006 the RCC implemented an expansion of its online crisis intervention services, as it became the Lead National Partner in the launching of the Rape Abuse Incest National Network’s (RAINN) Online Hotline. This expansion has provided individuals not only in the San Antonio and Bexar County area, but nationwide with access to “real-time” crisis intervention services via the Internet. Without the development of this partnership and the creation of this dynamic web presence, young people would go to other sites for help, including insecure chat rooms, possibly making themselves more vulnerable to sexual predators. This project is innovative and offers an original approach by using technology as a means of expanding existing services to a vulnerable population. New research has found that seven out of 10 young people of all ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds turn to the Internet for information about health issues. The traumatic nature of sexual assault makes it one of the most difficult experiences to vocalize, especially for young victims, and an online alternative would offer a new way to reach the countless number of victims reluctant to get help by telephone. As, there is currently no safe place on the Internet where a young survivor of sexual assault can go to receive real-time, confidential support from trained crisis intervention specialists. Currently the On-line Hotline is available to individuals Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Central time.

The hotline is available both telephonically at (210) 349-7273 or online (Click Here).

Hospital accompaniment and advocacy is offered as assistance to victims who are about to encounter a difficult emotional and psychological journey. The victim (1) must report her/his sexual violence to a local law enforcement agency; (2) be transported to a participating hospital for a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE), where clothing is removed for evidence; (3) is asked to relay the entire event to a law enforcement officer; (4) be examined for collection of medical forensic evidence; and (5), then, is returned home, most likely, to where the assault occurred. Without hospital accompaniment and advocacy during the reporting, medical, and evidence collection process, the victim would have to maneuver this process completely alone. The need to lessen the trauma of sexual violence is extremely important as the victim is already reeling from the effects of a very intimate crime, and coping mechanisms are very likely at their lowest, while simultaneously fear, anxiety, and other psychological traumas are at their highest. A trained, sensitive, and caring advocate presenting at the hospital during this process can begin to help in the healing process

Risk Reduction Education – The risk reduction education component of the project provides age appropriate curriculum for youth in grades K-12. These sessions ensure students are educated on issues of risk-reduction and general steps they may take to make themselves and their learning environments safer, as well as available community resources. This is achieved by conducting interactive educational seminars and workshops consisting of lecture, group discussion, group exercise, videos, and handouts about sexual violence. At the K-4 level, the RCC uses the Yello Dyno Program, -- an interactive curriculum utilizing hand puppets and videos directed at young children in the areas of safe touch and risk reduction. At the middle/high school and university levels, training sessions include a variety of topics including bullying, battering, rape awareness, violence and risk-reduction, sexual harassment, healthy relationships, date rape/violence, and issues of consent.

Primary Prevention Education - During the upcoming fiscal year, the RCC will begin researching methods to include primary prevention strategies in all education curricula delivered to students in San Antonio; and undertake a strategic planning process to develop a community approach for addressing sexual violence in the neighborhoods within the Edgewood Independent School District attendance zone. The Center for Disease Control & Prevention, as part of a federal grant award, is asking the RCC to expand its focus from a risk-reduction/awareness education strategy to include primary prevention, which includes interventions implemented before sexual violence occurs to help mitigate victimization or perpetration, i.e. stopping rape/sexual assault before it occurs. An internal workgroup has been established that will eventually include community representation, and be tasked with helping to refine and implement selected primary prevention strategies.

Outreach services include general awareness presentations and participating in volunteer and health fairs through out the community to ensure people are aware of sexual assault and the resources available to them should they become a victim of this crime. Outreach department staff can provide brochures and materials for distribution to an agency’s client base in additional to conducting presentations for staff, clients, and/or the community at large.

Volunteer Services - The Center needs caring, compassionate people – men and women. Some of our advocates are themselves survivors of sexual assault but not all are. No prior experience or training is required – just a desire to help those in crisis. Please Click Here for more information about the Volunteer Program.