00:00 - The following program is sponsored in part by customers

00:04 - bank.

00:13 - Gabriela Romero,

00:15 - public policy director from the PA Coalition to Advance Respect.

00:20 - What does your group do?

00:22 - We do a lot of things here in the state of Pennsylvania

00:25 - to advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, assault and harassment.

00:29 - So on.

00:30 - The Pennsylvania Coalition

00:31 - to Advance Respect is a statewide sexual assault coalition.

00:35 - We oversee 47 rape crisis centers across the state of Pennsylvania

00:39 - that serve all 67 counties, and they provide no charge

00:43 - services to survivors of sexual abuse, assault and harassment.

00:47 - Their loved ones,

00:48 - family members, as well, can take advantage of those services, too.

00:52 - Well, how often is sexual violence reported in Pennsylvania?

00:57 - So sexual violence is really a crime that's not reported a lot.

01:00 - And I think we have to think about how people are reporting it.

01:03 - Right.

01:04 - That disclosure might not always be a report to law enforcement.

01:08 - So even if we do look at numbers that law enforcement have, it might not be

01:12 - the most accurate to tell us what's truly happening in Pennsylvania.

01:17 - So folks might also report to, a teacher,

01:21 - a pastor, a loved one, a community member.

01:25 - You know,

01:25 - they might call a hotline for a rape crisis center and report in that way.

01:29 - We do know about half of women experience some sort of sexual violence.

01:33 - And I'd say about 1 in 6 men looking at, like, a national statistic.

01:38 - Now, victims of sexual violence may feel a stigma attached to this crime,

01:42 - and that could account for the lack of reporting.

01:44 - Talk about that and how you can help overcome that.

01:47 - Absolutely. Yeah. No, that's very common.

01:49 - I think it's something we work to overcome

01:51 - every single day rate and making sure that survivors,

01:55 - victims know that what's happened to them, it's not their fault.

01:59 - And there is help for them.

02:00 - And there are a lot of resources.

02:02 - And those resources are designed to meet them where they're at.

02:06 - And help them through their journey.

02:07 - Really explain to them, here are all of your options,

02:11 - what would happen if they picked option A or option B

02:14 - and give them really that informed decision so they can choose

02:18 - what's best for them and their healing journey, feel in control

02:22 - and have autonomy as they navigate what they need to do moving forward.

02:27 - Well, give me some examples of the resources

02:29 - that are things that are at victim's fingertips.

02:32 - If they contact your group.

02:34 - Yeah, absolutely. So first one would be a hotline.

02:36 - That's the most common way for folks to contact a rape crisis center.

02:41 - And from there, and the advocate on the other end is going to, you know,

02:44 - talk to them about their experience, ask why they're calling.

02:47 - Learn a little bit more and explain to them their options.

02:50 - So, the most requested service, for

02:53 - someone is typically like therapy or counseling services.

02:57 - Rape crisis advocates can also provide hospital accompaniment

03:00 - if someone is going to the hospital for a forensic rape exam,

03:04 - they have a write in the law for an advocate to be present with them.

03:09 - They can accompany someone to court if they have a court proceeding coming up.

03:12 - Explain that legal process to them.

03:15 - And really anything else that kind of fits in between,

03:19 - they can help a survivor find whether it's a resource

03:22 - that they already have at the rape crisis center, or connect them

03:26 - to other resources within their community.

03:29 - They also provide, you know, prevention, programing.

03:31 - And so, talking to community members about, you know,

03:35 - what is sexual abuse, assault or harassment, how do I identify it?

03:39 - And if you need help, if this has happened to you, here's

03:42 - how you can call, to make sure you get that help.

03:45 - Tell me more about the hotline if someone calls that number.

03:49 - Is there always a live person on the other end?

03:51 - Is it 24 hours? It is a 24 hour hotline.

03:55 - There is an advocate that if you that will answer on the other side

03:58 - and talk to you depending upon the time of day.

04:01 - Sometimes there are answering services,

04:03 - but you will get a call back from a live person.

04:06 - And they will help triage.

04:07 - You know what's going on with you, understand?

04:09 - Are you safe in this moment? Right.

04:11 - Make sure that if you're calling, are you safe right now?

04:15 - If you're not, is there anything they can do to help you get to safety

04:18 - and then kind of create an action plan from there

04:21 - to help us survivor connect to, you know, a local service?

04:25 - Let them know, you know, if they need medical care, connect them to

04:29 - to that or whatever it might be, and really kind of create

04:32 - an individualized plan, an option for that person.

04:37 - How can

04:37 - Piqua help with legal follow up for victims?

04:40 - Absolutely.

04:41 - So there's a couple different ways that happen.

04:43 - So, the first one, if they're talking to an advocate at a local rape crisis center,

04:48 - maybe they're looking for a protection order, maybe they,

04:51 - you know, they're going through that court process

04:53 - and an advocate can help navigate that process with them.

04:57 - So explain to them

04:58 - what they're going to expect when they go to court, what that looks like.

05:02 - If they have to testify, what that might feel like,

05:05 - and be kind of a body there present for them in that process,

05:09 - and then sometimes as well, of survivors may be interacting with a criminal system.

05:15 - They might be able to also advocate in that space for them as well,

05:17 - and kind of explain to them what that looks like.

05:20 - It's, you know, the legal field touches everybody's life every single day, right?

05:25 - But until you're in it, if you don't think about it right, it's not.

05:28 - And then if a trauma or a harm or something has happened to you

05:33 - and then you have to process and navigate, maybe talking to an attorney,

05:36 - talking to a judge, that can be really scary.

05:38 - So an advocate can be there to help you understand that process.

05:42 - And then we also at the state coalition, we have our Sexual Violence

05:46 - Legal Assistance Project, and that is a civil legal project

05:50 - designed to help fill the gaps in legal aid across the state for survivors.

05:55 - So if they, want to talk to someone about their rights with title nine,

05:59 - if they're navigating a protection order or really any legal thing

06:03 - that is related to sexual assault, the legal project can help them with that.

06:09 - That's got to be difficult for victims of this crime to have to pursue legal

06:13 - follow up, because they got to go from 0 to 100 miles an hour fast.

06:18 - Absolutely.

06:18 - And I mean, as you mentioned earlier, there's still a large stigma around

06:23 - the subject.

06:24 - And if you are navigating the legal process, you often have to talk about

06:28 - what's happened to you. Right?

06:29 - And you have that can be very Retraumatizing can be really difficult,

06:33 - and it might bring up emotions and feelings, things that you, you know,

06:37 - maybe you've been working

06:38 - on your healing as a survivor, but now you have to talk to

06:41 - sometimes a stranger that you've maybe never met this judge before, but you know,

06:46 - they're there to help you navigate this and apply the law and you have to open up.

06:51 - And that's a really difficult thing to do.

06:53 - Let's talk about rape crisis centers.

06:55 - You already mentioned them a couple times.

06:57 - Now I understand our partners with rape crisis centers, statewide.

07:02 - And just what do they do for victims as opposed to what you do for victims?

07:07 - Absolutely.

07:07 - So rape crisis centers

07:08 - are the ones like, on the ground providing services to survivors.

07:13 - I often say kind of to differentiate between the two at peak

07:17 - are we help the helpers.

07:19 - The folks at Rape crisis centers are the helpers.

07:22 - They are the advocates.

07:23 - They are the people answering the hotline at 3 a.m..

07:26 - They are the people going in with a survivor to the hospital if,

07:30 - if they need accompaniment.

07:31 - There's therapists, counselors, prevention educators.

07:35 - And so they're they're helping survivors,

07:37 - but they're also educating their community,

07:38 - and they're present in their community to help folks

07:42 - learn about sexual abuse, assault, and harassment and prevent it.

07:46 - Right.

07:46 - Our ultimate goal

07:47 - is to prevent these harms from happening to people,

07:50 - and we've got to get out into the community

07:51 - and educate folks so they know what it is,

07:54 - so we can keep it from happening.

07:56 - I'm sure our viewers are wondering if there's a rape crisis center

08:00 - in their community, and I know they're distributed statewide.

08:03 - How many do you have?

08:03 - So there's 47 centers total, and they serve all 67 counties.

08:07 - Some centers will serve one county.

08:09 - Other centers will serve more than one county.

08:12 - If you go to the our website which picture.org,

08:17 - there is an interactive map that's really helpful.

08:19 - So you can click on your county that helps you identify,

08:24 - what program serves where you live?

08:26 - Was there a geographic strategy that went into the distribution

08:30 - of these rape crisis centers?

08:32 - That's an excellent question.

08:33 - And I think definitely before my time of of working at Pixar.

08:37 - But I can say it's certainly to make sure that there are

08:39 - accessible services across the state for everyone.

08:43 - How many people are on staff at the average rape crisis center?

08:46 - Can you say that will definitely vary.

08:49 - Some staff, some are staffed with as little as eight people.

08:53 - Some could be up to 30.

08:55 - Depends upon the size of the community that they're serving

08:57 - and their funding and resources that they have available.

09:00 - And give us a more detailed idea of what happens when a victim contacts

09:04 - a rape crisis center.

09:06 - What happens from there?

09:07 - What are the arrangements that are made immediately? Yeah.

09:10 - So immediately, again, they're going to assess for safety,

09:13 - make sure that the individual is safe at the time that they're calling.

09:16 - If they're not safe, can they help them get to safety

09:19 - and then explain to them the options that they have, and the services

09:23 - that are offered at their local center that can vary from center to center.

09:27 - They have the same core services, but depending upon the expertise

09:32 - and education of the people on staff, they might have different types

09:37 - of services available, different types of counseling or therapy services.

09:41 - And so really help identify what are all of the options.

09:45 - Walk through that with each person and help them pick

09:48 - what is their next best stop.

09:50 - And that's something that can always change, right?

09:52 - It's you're not set in stone with the first decision you make.

09:56 - Counseling sessions then do take place.

09:58 - One on one that.

09:59 - Yes. Yeah.

10:00 - So they would be able to talk to a counselor.

10:02 - I think there's some programs do offer, you know, group therapy as well.

10:06 - And so making sure that the survivor knows these are all of your options.

10:09 - What you know,

10:10 - what do you feel comfortable what works best for you, to help them heal.

10:14 - Now, after initial contact with any rape crisis center, how long do

10:18 - victims in general have to wait for help for something to happen?

10:22 - So it can really depend

10:23 - upon what they're looking for, what kind of service they're looking for.

10:26 - You know, if it's an immediate service

10:28 - that's needed, if they're going to the hospital

10:30 - for a forensic exam, there are advocates that are on call.

10:34 - And that can report to the hospital

10:37 - at the same time as a victim survivor.

10:41 - If it's a counseling session that, you know, maybe they make an appointment

10:45 - for future services, but they will take time to figure out,

10:49 - you know, what can we do in the immediate and what can we do in the future?

10:53 - To help meet the needs of this individual that's calling now.

10:56 - In February, the governor made his new budget proposal for Pennsylvania.

11:01 - So let's consider, the recent history of funding for rape crisis centers.

11:05 - In other words, how did it look in last year's budget

11:08 - before we get into the proposal for this year?

11:11 - Yeah, so last year's budget, our line item before a budget was

11:14 - finalized was flat funded at $11.92 million.

11:19 - And we've been seeking an increase in that line item for a number of years.

11:23 - We were advocating for it for an increase, at the end of the budget impasse,

11:28 - which was a really tough time, a really, really tough time for our local programs.

11:34 - The rape crisis line item, which is the DHS rape crisis

11:37 - line item, received a $250,000 increase.

11:41 - So a small bump.

11:43 - That means for each rape crisis center right now.

11:46 - So total.

11:47 - So 250,000 250,000 for all rape crisis center statewide.

11:51 - Correct.

11:52 - So the line item went from 11.92 million to about 12.7 million total.

11:58 - So that 250,000 was divided,

12:03 - amongst the programs, if that were to be divided

12:06 - evenly, it's around 5000, maybe

12:09 - $5,300 per program.

12:13 - So when you break that down, it's not a ton.

12:16 - It's not a lot. Right.

12:18 - Well, I can tell from the stress in your voice a minute ago

12:21 - that when the budget impasse came along and the budget was delayed for months

12:25 - after all other lingering effects from that budget crisis.

12:30 - Yeah, absolutely.

12:31 - So during that time, we saw a lot of programs lay off staff,

12:35 - and they might have had a little bit of opportunity to keep staff around

12:39 - for a month or two, not knowing how long the budget impasse would take.

12:44 - You know, how long that would occur.

12:46 - And, you know, nearly five months later, a lot of programs had to lay off staff

12:51 - because they their primary source of of funding is the rape crisis line item.

12:56 - And from there,

12:58 - a lot of staff moved on.

13:00 - They were, you know, this was their job, their livelihood, as you know.

13:04 - So they had to find other jobs and have moved on to other things.

13:07 - And so there are programs that are still have empty positions,

13:11 - or maybe they have eliminated a position when someone left voluntarily.

13:15 - Because the funding is not there to, to get people on board or, but,

13:19 - you know, if they eliminate a position, maybe it gives them an opportunity

13:22 - to give staff a raise that they haven't seen in a really long time.

13:26 - And so then they just distribute that workload to the city to less people there.

13:31 - You know, they're trying to do the same amount of work

13:34 - but with less people at the end of the day.

13:36 - Well, let's bring it up to date.

13:38 - And the funding picture for the rape crisis centers.

13:40 - Here we are at some of spring 2026.

13:43 - And how does the financial picture look today as opposed

13:46 - as opposed to, say, six months ago?

13:49 - It's still a struggle.

13:51 - You know, that that little bit of money was, you know,

13:54 - it was slightly helpful, but we're still asking for,

13:58 - a raise in the DHS rape crisis line item, which would.

14:01 - We're asking for a $12.5 million increase in that line item.

14:05 - And we really took opportunity and learned a lot.

14:09 - You know, from the past six years of primarily flat funding

14:13 - and the budget impasse to see

14:16 - what's the true need for this line

14:19 - item to stabilize these services in Pennsylvania.

14:24 - Make sure that they're always accessible to survivors, that the folks

14:27 - working at these programs get an equitable,

14:30 - fair salary for the hard work that they're doing.

14:34 - That takes a lot of expertise and education.

14:37 - I want to make sure I understand the significance of the $12.5 million

14:41 - increase that you folks want. Does that mean,

14:44 - that would

14:45 - be in addition to whatever the governor is proposing for you right now?

14:48 - Correct? Yeah.

14:49 - And I understand

14:50 - you wrote a letter to lawmakers, so certainly had to state your case.

14:54 - And what were some of the, more, convincing, facts that you included

14:59 - in your letter to lawmakers to convince them to give you this money?

15:02 - Yeah, absolutely. So.

15:03 - And this it really is this open letter is a call to not only

15:08 - the governor as administration, but to all lawmakers in Pennsylvania.

15:12 - They have an opportunity here to to step forward

15:15 - and support survivors across Pennsylvania.

15:18 - You know, we're able to share with folks.

15:20 - Last year, Rape Crisis Center served about 26,000 individuals.

15:25 - And that can be adults or children, teenagers, folks that have experienced

15:31 - harm themself or maybe a loved one, a parent, a family member,

15:36 - and really broke down.

15:38 - You know, we I think they answered 17,000 hotline calls.

15:43 - That's about a call every 30 minutes.

15:46 - So just think every 30 minutes someone is calling for help because of

15:50 - some experience related to maybe to sexual assault or abuse or harassment.

15:55 - And so we laid that out.

15:57 - We laid out that programs are having a really hard time keeping their doors

16:01 - open, staying afloat, meeting the increased demand

16:05 - for services and

16:08 - reminding people that someone who asks for

16:11 - this kind of help is once hard.

16:15 - And to their constituent,

16:18 - you know, there are Pennsylvania resident,

16:21 - and Pennsylvania should have

16:24 - services available to these folks whenever they need it.

16:27 - All these services you're talking about, Gabriella, how were you able

16:31 - to put a price tag of 12.5 million on these services?

16:35 - And after all, lawmakers and governors

16:37 - are very sensitive to anything about budgets.

16:39 - Yeah, absolutely.

16:40 - So we've taken that $12.5 million and broken it down into numbers of

16:45 - what will stabilize services, what would go towards prevention services,

16:50 - what percentage would contribute to therapy and counseling services,

16:54 - which is the most requested service.

16:56 - And often where we see a large

16:59 - not maybe not large, but a

17:01 - wait list at times because it is the most requested services

17:04 - and folks that are providing therapy or counseling often

17:07 - maybe have a master's degree and in counseling.

17:11 - And so they're, you know, they're highly educated.

17:14 - And, you know, they deserve an equitable wage.

17:17 - And it's also very

17:20 - akin you can really experience like secondary trauma as well.

17:23 - When you're providing these services, it can be very draining for an individual.

17:28 - But they want to show up and they want to help survivors.

17:31 - And so and I think, you know, the 12.5 million also speaks to, meeting

17:37 - the the wages that we see in other

17:41 - services, other professions across the state.

17:45 - We, you know, want to see these people

17:48 - be able to afford to live, and not have to work a second job,

17:53 - while also working at a rape crisis center.

17:56 - Gabrielle, when you put out your letter for that request for $12.5 million,

18:00 - was there any immediate, response or reaction from the governor or lawmakers?

18:05 - I haven't seen a direct, immediate response yet.

18:09 - What we've done with those letters asked community partners

18:12 - and even individuals to sign on to it to show the importance

18:17 - of rape crisis services in their community.

18:21 - And show that across the state and all 67 counties, that this is really important

18:26 - and use that to to bolster why funding these programs is so important

18:31 - and helps all systems across Pennsylvania, not just,

18:36 - advocacy services.

18:38 - Let's consider,

18:40 - what role the federal government plays in funding rape crisis centers

18:44 - and just how much of the total budget comes from the federal government.

18:48 - So it's a it's a much smaller portion.

18:51 - There are some victims, Victim of Crime Act dollars

18:54 - that come to the state, also known as Voca

18:57 - that's managed through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

19:00 - So we do see some of that funding.

19:02 - We did have a, a grant

19:05 - from the federal government that we knew

19:08 - was coming to an end at the last,

19:12 - I guess, last October when the fiscal year ended.

19:15 - And we knew that was coming.

19:16 - It wasn't historically a grant that came to sexual assault services.

19:21 - So that was a short period of time.

19:22 - And it's come to an end as well.

19:24 - And there really isn't anything at this time to to fill that gap.

19:28 - And so

19:28 - we're kind of seeing this two fold at the federal and state level,

19:34 - either a decrease in funding or flat

19:36 - funding is is truly a decrease.

19:39 - And it's leaving us in this kind of precarious position of, of what do we do?

19:44 - We know that the state has an opportunity here to help.

19:48 - And we'd really like to see that happen.

19:51 - I try to give me an idea of what goes on behind the scenes.

19:54 - As far as Pete Carr, interacting with lawmakers

19:57 - to get your agenda across, give us a feel for what you really do at the Capitol.

20:02 - Absolutely.

20:03 - I that's one of my favorite parts of this job.

20:05 - I really view it as an honor that I get to represent

20:09 - rape crisis centers and survivors with the General Assembly.

20:12 - They deserve to have a voice in that space.

20:14 - So lawmakers really know what are these people experiencing

20:18 - from day to day in Pennsylvania, and what kind of help do they need?

20:22 - Right.

20:22 - So when I do meet with a lawmaker, I first want to make sure

20:26 - that they know of their rape crisis center.

20:29 - Do they know what center is local to their community?

20:32 - If they if their district serves

20:34 - more than one county, making sure they know all about,

20:37 - whichever programs serve those counties, if they've never met the people

20:41 - from that program, I want to connect them,

20:44 - you know, with with the director and other staff so they can understand

20:47 - if a constituent calls their office and asks for help, they know who

20:52 - the people are in their community that are out there to help them.

20:55 - Sometimes I will talk to folks when they get a call from a constituent.

20:58 - Something's happened to them.

21:00 - Most recently, I had a call related to campus sexual assault.

21:03 - And so I can help them

21:05 - navigate, you know, what do the laws look like in Pennsylvania

21:08 - and what services what's available to someone that's experience that,

21:13 - answer any questions they may have,

21:16 - and really be a subject matter expert and a resource for our lawmakers

21:21 - about sexual abuse, assault and harassment in Pennsylvania.

21:24 - And sometimes, you know, there are legislative advancements

21:27 - that we would like to see as well.

21:29 - And I can take that opportunity to chat with folks about that, and let them know

21:33 - what we're seeing and then how we think they can help survivors across the state.

21:37 - What can you do between now and when the governor

21:40 - finalizes the budget in order to get this extra funding?

21:43 - Yeah, we're going to be persistent.

21:45 - We're absolutely we're going to talk to anybody

21:47 - and everybody that is interested in this topic.

21:50 - How many people at work at peak hour can you distribute resources?

21:55 - A little bit.

21:56 - We have an excellent communications team.

21:58 - That helps me.

22:00 - We have a number of advocates.

22:02 - I'm the primary, government relations individual.

22:06 - But we do have a really great team, and we.

22:08 - So when a lawmaker sees you come in their office, they know what it's about.

22:11 - I hope so, that's the goal, right?

22:13 - They should know that I'm here

22:14 - here to talk about survivors and how they can help survivors.

22:18 - And, you know, and we also tap into our network of programs.

22:21 - Our our advocates are just amazing people, the people that work at rape

22:25 - crisis centers, they show up every day to help individuals.

22:29 - And they definitely their voices carry a lot.

22:31 - Right? We know that a lawmaker wants to hear from their constituents.

22:34 - So we also include their voices in that and in this call to action as well.

22:38 - Tell us one more time about that $12.5 million

22:41 - increase that you're really pushing for. Yeah.

22:43 - So $12.5 million for the DHS rape crisis line item that's going to help

22:47 - stabilize services for rape crisis services, expand therapy, and counseling,

22:52 - and expand prevention services, making sure that we have

22:56 - an infrastructure in Pennsylvania that is stable and supportive.

23:00 - So when anybody that has experienced sexual assault

23:03 - can call and get the help they need and know that it's not going anywhere,

23:08 - when someone is a victim of sexual violence, what should they do first?

23:13 - They should take a breath.

23:15 - Understand it's not their fault what's happened to them

23:18 - and know that there is help available to them

23:23 - and that it's it's okay to ask for help

23:26 - and know that there are people

23:29 - who who believe them and want to help them.

23:33 - And it's going to be okay.

23:35 - And how do victims get Ahold of your hotline number

23:38 - so they can check out the

23:41 - our website, npr.org.

23:44 - And that will have our hotline number.

23:46 - And they can, give that a call and they'll get directed to the right place.

23:51 - Thanks very much.

23:53 - Gabriella Romeo.

23:54 - Yes, of the public policy director from the PA Coalition to Advance Respect.

23:59 - Thank you so much for having me.