The Houston Area Women’s Center (HAWC) operates as the region’s leading Rape Crisis Center providing compassionate care, support services, and resources to survivors of sexual assault, including women, children, families, and sex trafficking survivors.

It is imperative that HAWC speak out on behalf of sexual assault survivors, especially when high-profile perpetrators of assault are protected by systems and policies that should instead be leading efforts to set standards and expectations for accountability. In the wake of overwhelming evidence of a pattern of abuse, Deshaun Watson will take the field this Sunday as one of the highest-paid athletes in the NFL and with no longstanding financial or professional consequences for his behavior. On the contrary, his victims will suffer life-long consequences to their physical, emotional, professional, and financial well-being.

The term sexual assault refers to sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the victim. Sexual assault can take many forms, some of which include:

• Attempted rape.
• Fondling or unwanted sexual touching.
• Forcing a victim to perform sexual acts, such as oral sex or penetrating the perpetrator’s body.
• Penetration of the victim’s body, also known as rape.

HAWC’s comprehensive sexual assault services include a 24-hour rape crisis hotline, chat services, hospital support and advocacy, counseling, legal advocacy, specialized care for youth and trafficking survivors, and dating violence prevention.

Every day, HAWC advocates and counselors help survivors cope with their crisis, heal from their trauma, and regain a sense of trust and control in their lives. Our staff witness first-hand the immediate trauma and ongoing emotional, financial, and physical toll that sexual assault takes. It is estimated that over half of women and almost 1 in 3 men have experienced sexual violence. Most survivors do not ever come forward to disclose their assault. When survivors do speak out, they are often met with derision and distrust by the very systems that are designed to protect them. Very few sexual assault cases that are reported ever result in conviction and accountability for the perpetrator.

HAWC has developed dynamic partnerships with universities, public schools, law enforcement, the corporate sector, and other service providers. HAWC currently serves as the presiding officer of Harris County’s newly formed Sexual Assault Response Team, a collaborative effort to develop protocols and ensure coordination between all agencies involved in sexual assault cases.

HAWC has longstanding relationships with Houston’s local sports teams and has been involved in guiding and championing their efforts to reform support to survivors and hold perpetrators accountable.

For 45 years, HAWC has been on the frontline, offering safety and providing comprehensive, life-saving services to survivors of sexual violence. Sexual assault is violence. It is a pervasive public health problem, and it is preventable. No one individual or sector can address the problem alone. When systems protect perpetrators, we all suffer. Together we must address the conditions that create an environment in which sexual violence occurs and perpetrators are protected. We must work at creating an environment in which entire communities experience safety and support while all working together to ensure that sexual violence will not be tolerated.

Survivors are encouraged to call the HAWC Sexual Assault Hotline or LiveChat for assistance at 713-528-7273 or visit www.hawc.org or www.hawc.org/sexual-assault for more information