Rape Crisis Center moves closer to University Medical Center

The Rape Crisis Center in Las Vegas has a new central office that’s nearly twice the size of its previous site.

The new location is near University Medical Center, which will help reduce the advocates’ response time to victims at the hospital, said Daniele Dreitzer, executive director. Response time is expected to decrease from 20 minutes to about five minutes during regular business hours.

“We meet with the victims and go over their options,” she said. “The advocate is there truly on behalf of the victim.”

The center used to be at the College of Southern Nevada. It’s now leasing a building that’s just under 3,000-square-foot at 801 S. Rancho Drive, Suite B-2.

Rent will go up, but the benefit of the new location will be greater, said Dreitzer, who declined to say how much the rent is increasing. Advocates will also be able to offer more counseling sessions because of the additional space.

In the near future, it also hopes to start a Spanish support group.

“The financial implications are worth it,” she said.

The organization’s annual funding is around $850,000, Dreitzer said. That includes state funds, private donations and grants.

The center assisted 52 victims at the hospital during April alone, she said. The majority of them were between the ages of 18 and 24, she said. Six of them were in their mid-teens — 13 to 17 years of age, and two were over the age of 65.

“It happens all across the board,” Dreitzer said. “It’s not an issue that leaves anybody out.”

The majority of the victims’ perpetrators are acquaintances, she said.

Officer Jose Hernandez, spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department, said from Jan. 1 to May 4, the department received 343 sexual assault reports. During the same time last year, it had received 368.

The hotline for the Rape Crisis Center is 702-366-1640.

Contact Yesenia Amaro at yamaro@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.