Sexual assault support hotline receives record number of calls day after Christine Blasey Ford testimony

A non-profit anti sexual assault organisation that operates a hotline for victims received the highest volume of calls ever after Christine Blasey Ford's emotional Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week.

RAINN, America's largest anti-sexual violence organisation, which operates a hotline for survivors, reported Monday that it received record hotline traffic on 28 September, the day after Blasey Ford's emotional testimony, reports Mashable.

Between Thursday, the day of the hearing, and Sunday, RAINN saw a 338 per cent rise in hotline traffic. For the full month of September, RAINN's victim services programmes helped 28,509 victims, and their loved ones, an average of 950 per day, compared to 18,129 last September.

Friday 28 September, the day after Blasey Ford testified in front of the Senate Judiciary, alleging she was assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, was the busiest day in the hotline's 24-year history, offering more than 3,000 people help.

On Thursday 27 September, the day of Dr Ford's hearing, the hotline saw a 147 per cent increase in the volume of calls to its hotline.

RAINN's president, Scott Berkowitz, thinks that this spike is no coincidence:

History shows us that when high-profile allegations such as these are in the news it often causes others to reach out too. This story has clearly resonated with survivors, and has led thousands to reach out for help for the first time.

He continued:

Over this past year, following the cases of Weinstein and Cosby and the explosion of #MeToo, our numbers have been growing pretty rapidly, but we’ve never seen anything like this before.

In addition to providing support for survivors, RAINN also demanded that the Senate delay the vote on Kavanaugh's hearing in order to allow a full FBI investigation. The Senate took this action Friday, giving the FBI one week to do a full investigation.

HT Mashable

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