New initiative will address needs of sex assault survivors

Sex assault survivors in Allegheny County now have new support services meant to help meet the individualized needs of victims.

“[Survivors] deserve the support and resources to really rebuild their lives on their own terms,” said Sadie Restivo, executive director of Pittsburgh Action Against Rape.

First Steps — a newly launched, roughly eightweek program at PAAR — will address the “complex and unmet needs of many clients,” Ms. Restivo said at a Tuesday event to commemorate National Sex Assault Awareness Month.

Through the program, anyone seeking help from the organization is now assigned a case manager who will help fulfill their urgent needs, such as finding food, shelter, legal advocacy and counseling.

Ms. Restivo said that many of those tasks traditionally fell on the organization’s therapists before the organization — which is located on the South Side — was able to hire two full-time case managers.

The new program aims to identify triggers and build resilience in survivors before wholly engaging in trauma-informed therapy.

“It’s about meeting people where they are, and figuring out how we can best find what they need,” Ms. Restivo said.

Ms. Restivo hopes to secure more funding to double the number of case managers on staff at the agency, the only organization solely dedicated to sexual assault victim services countywide.

City Councilman Bob Charland, who lives on the same block as PAAR’s office on 19th Street, said he was “blown away by the work and strength” of its workers.

“I’m touched by the remarkable innovation and the way [they’re] able to relate to people in the way they need,” he said.

County Executive Sara Innamorato, whom Ms. Restivo called “a steadfast advocate,” also joined her to call for more trauma-informed care and “fostering a culture of safety in Allegheny County.”

“This means not only raising awareness about the prevalence of sexual assaults but also working diligently to prevent such acts from occurring,” she said.

Ms. Innamorato also acknowledged the higher rates of sexual violence that occur in communities of color and the transgender community.

“Our work must center these voices,” she said.

Nationally, nearly half of transgender people and more than a quarter of Black women have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lives, according to data from PAAR.

There were 107 rapes reported to Pittsburgh police in 2022 — the most recent data publicly available — an increase from the 90 incidents reported the previous year.

Hilary Ballard, a business owner in Pittsburgh and a survivor of sexual assault, said that while resources were necessary, the biggest gift for any victim is to be believed.

“I can’t help but wonder how differently my life would have been 19 years ago if I had been able to go to a friend or family member and without any doubt know that they would believe me,” she said.