Historic Highlights

The second oldest rape crisis center in the country and the oldest in New England, the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center was founded in 1973 in the Cambridge Women’s Center by a group of volunteers and survivors dedicated to building a hotline to answer calls from rape survivors.

Today, we are a national leader in providing comprehensive, free services for survivors of sexual violence as well as educating organizations and communities about sexual violence response and prevention. In the field, BARCC is known for staying at the leading edge of change by listening to the diversity of survivors and families that seek services, working to grow and innovate for improved outcomes for survivors, and managing resources for stability and planned growth impact. The engagement of community volunteers remains a critical strategy in achieving BARCC’s mission. One of the other key strategies for achieving BARCC’s mission is the recruitment and retention of outstanding talent in our internship program and staff and bold partnerships to facilitate change.

Dive deeper into some of the landmark moments that have made BARCC what it is today. We’ve grown and changed over the years, but our foundations have remained constant: listening to survivors, building programs based on their needs, and influencing social change.

  • In the United States, more than two in five women (43.6%) and almost one in four men (24.8%) have experienced some form of contact sexual violence during their lifetime. Approximately one in five women (21.3%) and one in 38 men (2.6%) in the United States have been raped (completed or attempted) at some time in their lives. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2015 Data Brief)
  • Almost one in two transgender people (47%) surveyed have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime. (U.S. Transgender Survey)
  • One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18 years old. (National Sexual Violence Resource Center)
  • People with a disability of any kind have an age-adjusted rate of rape or sexual assault that is more than twice the rate for people without disabilities. (The National Crime Victimization Survey and the 2010 Massachusetts Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System)
  • One in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college. (National Sexual Violence Resource Center)

The Seventies

1972-1973 BARCC’s Founding

In the fall of 1972, a group of women in the Greater Boston area began looking for resources for survivors of sexual violence. They found nothing—and decided to do everything. Read more about the founding of BARCC.

BARCC’s first Take Back the Night March

A historic gathering unfolds as a large group of women march at night, holding banners that say "Women Unite" and "Take Back the Night.

1973 Doors Open

BARCC opened its doors—and its hotline—on March 26, 1973. It started with a tiny office in the Cambridge Women’s Center. Hear from the first person to call BARCC’s hotline.

The Eighties

1983 BARCC is a Nonprofit

BARCC is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and begins receiving funding.

1984 First Full-Time Staff Member

A person addresses students seated in a historic classroom at St. Gregory's High School, offering support services with an emphasis on tradition and excellence.

Sohaila Abdulali was 21 years old and had just graduated from college when she saw an ad in the boston phoenix: “rape crisis center looking for coordinator.” Read about her experiences at BARCC and the cambridge women’s center..

The Nineties

1998 Specialized Services for Male Survivors

Though BARCC had offered services to male survivors since 1998, the organization launched an outreach and awareness campaign in the early 2000s, after the catholic clergy sexual abuse scandal brought childhood sexual abuse—particularly among boys—to the fore of public consciousness, prompting a spike in calls to BARCC from male survivors.

A historic scene unfolds as a person sits on a wooden deck facing the beach, overlooking the sea under a clear sky.

The Two Thousands

2006 Nonprofit of the Year

BARCC receives the Nonprofit of the Year award from the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.

2009 National crime victim service award

BARCC is awarded the United States Department of Justice’s National Crime Victim Service Award for Exemplary Services.

Military sexual assault committee

BARCC cochairs the Commonwealth’s Military Sexual Assault Committee to build connections and break down silos to increase access to services and training.

2010 Youth Initiative Launched

BARCC’s work with youth began with the founding. From the start, teenagers called the hotline and volunteers held workshops and speaking engagements at schools. But the formalization of the youth initiative didn’t come until later.

Gerard D. Downing Award

Executive director Gina Scaramella receives the Gerard D. Downing leadership award from the Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance. BARCC programs and staff have also been recognized in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

2011 Disability Access Initiative

BARCC launches its first disability access initiative in response to the high rates of sexual violence experienced by people with disabilities. Fueled by a competitive federal grant program, we established the movement for access, safety, and survivors (mass) collaboration to make services more supportive and accessible to survivors with disabilities in the boston area. This collaboration continues with this vital work today and has attracted additional funding.

2012 College Campuses

BARCC expands work with campuses in the wake of increased attention to sexual assault rates on college campuses, providing supervision and training to campus personnel, providing proxy hotline services during weekends and breaks, and creating prevention-oriented programs.

2014 Massachusetts House Of Representatives

BARCC receives a recognition award from the Massachusetts House Of Representatives for Supporting and Advocating for Survivors of Sexual Violence.

Access to Forensic Information (AFI)

BARCC launches a multidisciplinary statewide Access to Foresic Information (AFI) project to give survivors a web-based platform of trustworthy information about the ma sexual assault evidence collection kit and related issues with our partners in the crime lab, police, district attorneys’ offices, sexual assault nurse examiners, and other rape crisis centers.

2015 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Work Begins

The federally mandated Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) requires crisis services to be available to survivors who are incarcerated. BARCC became the sole rape crisis provider for the ma department of correction, providing hotline, medical accompaniment, and advocacy to survivors as well as training to corrections staff.

MA Disabled Persons Protection Commission (DPPC)

BARCC begins working with the MA Disabled Persons Protection Commission (DPPC) and other agencies to develop policies and training to help rape crisis centers throughout the state better serve survivors with intellectual/developmental disabilities.

2016 Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Grant

BARCC receives a competitive continuation Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Grant to continue its disabilities initiative.

National Sexual Assault Conference

BARCC’s prevention education staff are invited to present at the annual National Sexual Assault Conference. The team was asked to present again at the June 2017 conference.

2018 Media Coverage Of Sexual Assault

As the #metoo movement goes viral, we look at how the media has covered sexual assault in the years since BARCC’s founding into the present day.

A historic collage of newspaper headlines about rape, featuring phrases like "Women demonstrators picket," "Rape center opens today," and "The overriding issue is terror.

BARCC Launches Web Chat Hotline

A person sits on the historic stone steps, holding and intently looking at a smartphone.

BARCC introduced a new way for survivors to get support in November 2018: survivors can now chat online with a BARCC hotline counselor over a computer or smartphone.

The Twenty-twenties