Description
The Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault has been providing services to victims and survivors of sexual assault and their families since 1973. The agency was started by a group of local women who observed that women were the victims of sexual aggression and sexual violence on the streets and in their homes, and that women were also victims of sexual harassment in schools and workplaces. The group began serving women in the community who presented following public talks given by the grass-roots founders. In 1974, this grass-roots coalition formalized its operations and became a corporation under the name Coalition of Women's Agencies. A 24-hour crisis line was established at the University of Arizona Women's Center under the name Women Against Rape and a volunteer structure was put in place.
In 1978, the Coalition of Women's Agencies and Women Against Rape united as the Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault, dba Tucson Rape Crisis Center. Over the years, the 24/7 crisis hotline, offering services in both English and Spanish, has remained a core service. Other invaluable programs have been added, including professional mental health services, medical forensic examinations and evidence collection, and community education.
Today the Center is the largest provider of sexual assault services in the state of Arizona and the only organization in the state that provides the full continuum of sexual assault services. The Center works in partnership with numerous other service providers (e.g., law enforcement and prosecution, hospitals, educational entities) to promote justice for victims and survivors and to promote healing from the trauma of sexual assault.
