Rape Recovery Center Raises Awareness, Funds

The Moscow sexual-assault recovery center Syostry, or Sisters, collected nearly $5,000 at its first fundraiser, held Wednesday night at the Radisson Slavjanskaya hotel, organizers said. The benefit, sponsored by the International Press Center, attracted 200 people, according to Tara Conklin of the IPCC.Vandenberg, one of the center's founders, told the crowded hall that although over 14,000 rapes were registered in the Russian Federation in 1993, experts believe this figure represents only 2-3 percent of the actual number.The center, which was officially registered on March 22, is currently funded by a $10,000 grant from the Global Fund for Women, smaller grants from the Canadian Embassy and the Canadian women's group, and private donations.On April 18, the center began to operate a telephone "trust line" for victims of rape and sexual assault. According to Natasha Gaidarenko, the executive director of the center, 158 telephone calls have so far been received.The funds raised will be used to support the telephone line and the educational programs which the center plans to conduct in local schools and training institutes.The evening's keynote speaker was Yelena Bonner, a member of the Presidential Commission on Human Rights and widow of the Nobel Prize winner Andrei Sakharov. She suggested that the rising incidence of rape in Russia was a symptom of the explosion of violent crime that had followed the breakdown of totalitarian rule. "I think this is a problem of human rights in general," she said.Inna Sherpyonova, head of the Department of Social Problems of Women at the Social Defense Ministry said the ministry planned to set up a new department of social services for the community which would provide a range of legal, psychological and other services for women, children, and families.