History of Rape Crisis, Inc.

Rape Crisis, Inc. was organized in February 1974 at a meeting of the Rape Task Force of the Arkansas Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and was incorporated as a separate entity in the summer of 1974. Ten women and one man constituted the board of directors at that time.

The crisis intervention hotline was begun in May 1975 to counsel rape victims and their families in the aftermath of sexual assault. In October 1980, volunteers made an arrangement with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to provide face to face counseling with rape victims in the emergency room.

In February 1982, the Little Rock Rape/Family Abuse Program merged with Rape Crisis, Inc. In the summer of 1982, Rape Crisis hired its first executive director and moved into its first office at the Baptist Professional Building.

Emergency room advocacy was expanded from UAMS to Baptist Memorial Hospital in North Little Rock, in the fall of 1983. RCI began training medical personnel during that same year.

RCI became affiliated wit United Way of Pulaski County in 1984 and began receiving federal funding through the Victims of Crime Act in 1987.

By 1989, RCI was providing emotional support and assistance in all Pulaski County hospitals. RCI continues to provide services to the public.