The Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect (PCAR) is the oldest statewide anti-sexual violence coalition in the United States. Based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, PCAR was founded in 1975 as the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and adopted its new name in 2023.
Since its formation, PCAR has been a national leader in the movement to eliminate all forms of sexual violence and continues to advocate for the rights and needs of survivors of sexual abuse, assault, and harassment.
PCAR works with a network of 47 rape crisis centers serving all 67 counties of Pennsylvania. The coalition distributes state funding to rape crisis centers and provides them with public policy advocacy, professional training, technical assistance, sexual violence prevention resources, and support for programs serving Pennsylvania victims of sexual abuse, assault, and harassment.
PCAR also established the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) in 2000. The center now operates as its own nonprofit organization, also under the parent organization Respect Together. Ryan, Kathleen. "Women push for new rape case procedures." Sunbury, Pennsylvania: The Daily Item, October 27, 1975, p.4 (subscription required)."Crawford, Michael. "We must not trivialize sexual assault of boys." Lancaster, Pennsylvania: LNP Online, April 20, 2015, p. 9 (subscription required).
History Founded in 1975, PCAR works with a statewide network of 51 rape crisis centers serving all 67 counties across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to provide services to survivors of sexual violence.Wilson, Linda. "Butler center helping victims of rape." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post Gazette, October 26, 1978, p. 45 (subscription required).
As part of this organization's mission, PCAR personnel research and advocate for public policies to protect and provide recovery assistance to victims of sexual violence and to hold sexual violence offenders accountable in order to improve the safety of communities."About PCAR," Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape. During the fall of 1975, PCAR and its supporters lobbied members of the Pennsylvania State Legislature to change procedures statewide for defining, managing and prosecuting rape cases. Among the changes that were demanded:Ryan, "Women push for new rape case procedures," The Daily Item, October 27, 1975. Authorizing police and prosecutors to charge and prosecute husbands for raping their wives "provided they [were] living in separate residences or provided either spouse [had] filed a divorce complaint"; Elimination of the requirement of proof of resistance by victims in order for rape cases to be prosecuted; Lengthening the amount of time that rape survivors had to file charges against offenders to ninety days after the dates of attack; Prohibiting the introduction of testimony regarding a rape victim's "past sexual conduct with anybody other than the accused rapist"; and Prohibiting judges from instructing juries that any victim's credibility was questionable due to "her emotional involvement in the event."
On March 16, 1976, PCAR joined with women's groups statewide to hold a lobby day at the Pennsylvania State Capitol when legislation prohibiting the introduction of victims' sexual histories into court cases was delayed by legislators attempting to weaken proposed changes by continuing to allow the introduction of sexual history information in statutory rape cases that involved victims who were aged sixteen or younger."Rape Law Changes Sought." Uniontown, Pennsylvania: The Evening Standard, March 16, 1976, p. 13 (subscription required)."Women's Rally Set March 16." Uniontown, Pennsylvania: The Evening Standard, March 4, 1976, front page (subscription required).
In November 1978, PCAR executive director Sandra Lambert praised U.S. President Jimmy Carter for signing the Rape Victim Act into law on October 30 of that year. The federal law, which followed Pennsylvania's groundbreaking passage of Act 53 in 1976 to improve legal protections for rape survivors, was designed to reduce the introduction of testimony in future rape trials across the United States regarding survivors' past sexual histories by requiring that any such proposed testimony would be submitted to presiding judges in private hearings to determine whether or not it was directly related to the defense of alleged offenders and appropriate for trial use. According to Lambert, "In the 27 rape crisis centers in Pennsylvania, we have seen not only an increase in reporting of rape since Act 53 was passed, but also more offenders going to court." Lambert noted that the recidivism rate of rape offenders was estimated at seventy-three percent."Anti-Rape Group Praises Carter." Hanover, Pennsylvania: The Evening Sun, November 3, 1978, p. 25 (subscription required).
From May through October of 1979, according to PCAR, 1,322 victims of rape sought assistance from nineteen of the thirty-five rape crisis centers operating across the state. Of those 1,322 survivors, 557 (42.1 percent) were children under the age of eighteen."Assistance Requests of Rape Victims Rise." Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania: Citizens' Voice, March 17, 1980, p. 3 (subscription required).
In August 1979, Anne Pride, the administrator of Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, was elected as PCAR's president."Area woman gets top post." North Hills, Pennsylvania: News Record, August 14, 1979, p. 14 (subscription required). In December of that same year, the Pennsylvania House's Judiciary Committee voted 14-3 in favor of legislation that would strip husbands of the "right to use marriage as a defense against sexual assault charges." The bill had increased its co-sponsorship from five legislators during 1978 to twenty-four in 1979. Between June and March of 1978, seventy-seven women had reported being forced by their husbands to have sexual intercourse, against their will, according to PCAR, which noted that this figure was an increase from the fifty-nine cases of marital rape that had been reported in 1977."Marriage defense might not work." Indiana, Pennsylvania: The Indiana Gazette, December 18, 1979, p. 6 (subscription required).
On February 5, 1980, PCAR joined with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence to present a Legislative Education Day at the Pennsylvania State Capitol to increase understanding about House Bills 744 and 745, which proposed the creation of The Office on Crime Victims to improve investigation and prosecution of domestic abuse and sexual assault crimes and fund domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers and support services for crime victims and witnesses."Education Day next Tuesday." Somerset, Pennsylvania: The Daily American, January 30, 1980, p. 6 (subscription required).
Role in Pennsylvania's rape crisis network PCAR serves as the statewide coalition for Pennsylvania's network of 47 rape crisis centers, which collectively provide services across all 67 counties of the Commonwealth. The coalition supports the network through statewide coordination, professional training of center staff, technical assistance, sexual violence prevention resources, public policy advocacy, and the distribution of state funding. The individual rape crisis centers operate as independent community-based organizations serving designated geographic areas.
Local rape crisis centers, also called sexual assault centers, rather than PCAR, provide most direct services to victims and survivors of sexual violence. These services include 24-hour hotline crisis intervention, therapy, individual and group counseling, professional training, prevention education, legal advocacy, medical advocacy, information and referrals, and support for family members and others affected by sexual abuse, assault and harassment. Advocates may accompany survivors to hospitals, police departments, court proceedings, and other appointments, and assist them in navigating medical, legal, and criminal justice systems. Services are generally provided without charge and are confidential, subject to applicable legal requirements.
Rape crisis centers also provide sexual violence prevention and public education programs in schools, workplaces, and community settings. These programs may address topics including consent, healthy relationships, bystander intervention, sexual harassment, and the prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation.
PCAR works with state agencies and local centers to develop and evaluate statewide prevention strategies. Through Pennsylvania's participation in the federal Rape Prevention and Education Program, PCAR has partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and local organizations to support primary prevention programs across the state.
As the statewide coalition, PCAR provides professional development and technical assistance intended to strengthen services and promote consistent practices across the rape crisis network. Its training and education resources are also used by professionals in health care, education, law enforcement, social service, and the courts.
PCAR represents the rape crisis network in discussions with state agencies, lawmakers, and other institutions concerning sexual violence prevention, victims' rights, service standards, public policy, and funding. The coalition also provides resources to help local centers respond to changes in law, technology, professional practice, and the needs of the communities they serve.
Funding for Pennsylvania's rape crisis network comes form state appropriations, federal victim-service grants, local funding, charitable contributions, and other public and private sources. PCAR administers the Commonwealth's annual rape crisis appropriation and distributes funding among the local centers. Individual centers may also receive funding through federal programs, including grants supported by the Victims of Crime Act, and through grants administered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
Programs and services Beginning in the late 1970s, PCAR and its supporters developed and presented professional development and civic education programs that provided training for educators, healthcare workers, journalist, legal and public safety professionals, and members of the general public regarding the forms of sexual violence and their impact on communities across Pennsylvania."Childline: Major Goals Are Child Protection, Preservation of the Family Unit." Hanover, Pennsylvania: The Evening Sun, June 2, 1979, p. 7 (subscription required)."Incest: Symptom of a Family in Trouble." Hanover, Pennsylvania: The Evening Sun, May 31, 1979, p. 9 (subscription required)."'Incest' seminar March 7." Latrobe, Pennsylvania: The Latrobe Bulletin, March 3, 1980, p. 9 (subscription required)."Ginny Thornburgh talks of marriage at Legislative Exchange." Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania: The Morning Press, March 20, 1980, p. 14 (subscription required)."Rape Crisis Class for Area Police." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Tribune, May 14, 1983, p. 5 (subscription required).
From 2009 to October 1, 2015, PCAR founded and provided financial management services for AEquitas, which supported prosecutors working on human trafficking and gender-based violence cases worldwide."About PCAR," Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.Dillon, Justin. "Due process must be part of sex-assault policy." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 25, 2015, p. A14 (subscription required).