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A midstate county looks for community input on new sexual assault center

“This is an opportunity for us to explore what services are really needed and in what way those services should be offered to best meet the needs of survivors.”

  • Julia Agos/WITF
Traffic moves through the square in downtown Gettysburg.

Traffic moves through the square in downtown Gettysburg.

(Gettysburg) — The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, or PCAR, is surveying people who live in Adams County for help in establishing a new sexual assault center.

Participants can help determine what kind of assistance the new agency may provide like legal services or in-house therapy.

Laura Masgalas, a community organizer for PCAR, says the group wants to tailor the approach to fit the community’s needs.

“This is an opportunity for us to explore what services are really needed and in what way those services should be offered to best meet the needs of survivors. And the way we can best we tell that is to get survivors involved in the process,” Masgalas said.

Survivors Inc., an agency that had been providing both domestic violence and sexual assault services in Adams County, closed in June 2019 – leaving the community without a crisis center. Since then, victims of sexual harassment or assault must go to neighboring York County for the nearest assistance center.

The YWCA York-Victim Assistance Center has been serving survivors from Adam’s County on an interim basis. But Masgalas said PCAR knew it was not a long-term solution.

PCAR is using a two-pronged community assessment approach to set up the new agency. First, the group conducted about 15 “stakeholder interviews” which included elected leaders and survivor advocates in the community. Now in the second phase, the organization is seeking community input.

Masgalas said they also hope the survey will help raise awareness.

“Historically, the sexual assault centers or rape crisis centers have been thought of as just for women who are victims or survivors of rape. And what we know is that sexual violence is a whole spectrum of things and that is regardless of gender. We know that more people might need access to those services,” she said.

The deadline to fill out the survey on PCAR’s website is July 17.

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