New City Council funding, secured through the District Attorney’s Office, is offering temporary relief to Philadelphia’s only rape crisis center.
WOAR, formerly Women Organized Against Rape, announced sweeping layoffs on Oct. 6, cutting about three-quarters of its staff.
“Many of our offices are pretty bare right now,” said Laquisha Anthony, senior manager of advocacy at WOAR.
These empty offices once housed therapists serving survivors of sexual violence at WOAR, the city’s only rape crisis center. Now, the center itself is in crisis.
“Last week, we unfortunately had to lay off a substantial number of our dedicated and vital staff,” said Anthony.
Laquisha Anthony said 72% of WOAR’s funding comes from the state, money they haven’t received this year, with the budget now over 100 days overdue.
The center can still staff its 24-hour hotline and offer some crisis counseling, but it has had to halt critical ongoing therapy services.
One room used to host counseling for children who survived sexual assault.
“Children who have started this process of counseling, and now it will be disrupted,” said Anthony.
But now there’s some hope.
“They will be receiving $90,000,” said Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.
Krasner announced new city funding for WOAR and eight other victim-services organizations.
“The context, sadly, is underfunding coming from the state,” said Krasner.
Organizations outside the city are also suffering.
“We are under a threat and it is a serious emergency,” said Mary Onama, executive director of Victim Services Center of Montgomery County.
Onama said 37% of their budget is frozen because of state delays.
“It pays for staffing, it pays for the operation of critical services, such as advocacy, counseling, and crisis hotline,” she said.
While the $90,000 won’t restore WOAR to full strength, Anthony said this funding buys them time, but every day without state support means another survivor left waiting.