ABSTRACT
Twenty years after the first speak-out against rape, we are still grappling with the meaning and extent of sexual violence in women’s lives. Violence against women became a fundamental issue for the new feminist movement that began in the late 1960s, and became the focus of a distinct, parallel anti-rape movement. Today, rape crisis centers are ubiquitous in the U.S.; found in cities of all sizes and in many rural counties, they offer counseling and a variety of other services to survivors of sexual assault. What began as an anti-rape movement has developed into a collection of organizations that provide a range of services. The movement aspect of anti-rape work is now less apparent than its character as a network of social service agencies, which are often integrated into the very institutions the early movement opposed.
