Help Available for Sexual Assault Victims

Five months after an article in Rolling Stone magazine made national headlines alleging a gang rape at the University of Virginia, the Columbia Journalism Review has discredited the story.

Now, victims’ advocates are concerned about any setbacks for victims that may follow.

The review states, "The magazine’s failure may have spread the idea that many women invent rape allegations."

"If it was false, it’s too damaging," said Cecilia Knadler.

Knadler is a student activist at Fresno State. She’s part of the P.O.W.E.R. (People Organized for Women’s Empowerment and Representation) organization, and she’s trying to raise sexual assault awareness on the Fresno State campus.

Students Thea Teets and Brendan Gangi said it’s unfortunate that people would doubt actual victims because of the fallout from the Rolling Stone report.

"I just think it’s really awful because it puts victims kind of at a loss," Teets said.

"Now everyone has to look into their case to see if it’s actually true," Gangi said.

But they said it shouldn’t be that way. And there’s help on campus– many just don’t know where to find it.

"There’s many people that I talk [to] here, and they don’t even know where the Women’s Resource center is," Knadler said. "They don’t even know where the Health Center is. They don’t even know, as a matter of fact, where the police station is on campus."

Fresno State students are now required to take an online training to raise their awareness of sexual assault.

Teets describes the online training: "How to help victims, what to do in a situation if you’re caught in the middle of it, and pretty much how the victim is never at fault, everybody should tell their story."

In Fresno County, RCS Fresno (Rape Counseling Services) has a 24-hour crisis hotline, free of judgment and doubt, with the focus on getting the victim help.

"It’s not about whether they’re lying or telling the truth. We care about whether they’ve been traumatized and trying to help them to heal and feel safe," said Monte Jewell, executive director at RCS Fresno.

The 24-hour hotline number is (559) 222-7273.