An Advocate of Life

“Sexual assault is not a single issue because we do not live single issue lives. There is not a walk of life that sexual assault does not impact, and everyone has a role to play in creating world free from sexual violence,” says Indira M. Henard, the Executive Director of DC Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC) in Washington, DC.

DCRCC was founded in the early 70s as one of the first rape crisis centers in the country. Indira has been involved in the violence against women movement for 20 years. Indira’s expertise in gender-based violence is rooted in an anti-oppression, feminist theory, and survivor-centered model. Indira’s direct service experience in various gender-based violence programs has helped to inform her policy analysis, led to coordinating public policy initiatives, organizing and planning space for survivor-led advocacy, and educating local and international communities about civic participation within the violence against women movement.

The work of the DC Rape Crisis Center is sacred, and its unscripted work. The team responds 24/7 to survivors of sexual assault. As such, the work of sexual assault, and the sexual assault movement in general, sees a high turnover due to burnout and compassion fatigue. “One of the things that I have worked hard at is creating a culture of care within the organization where self-care and wellness are centered,” voices Indira. “At the core of me, I am an advocate, healer, and social worker, who is rooted in grace and compassion, and as a leader, I am very intentional about taking care of the people who are taking care of the clients.”

What one knows for sure is that the work of sexual violence is not hard work but HEART work. To that end, Indira is encouraging and empowering her team to do this work from a well-being lens. “I have been fortunate to have a small but mighty group of women who have loved, supported, prayed, and covered me in all seasons. So, for me, it is not one person who has inspired me and influenced me,” she adds. “It has been the journey of black women who have come before me and cleared the path so that my journey might be a little bit easier and who have and continue to remind me of not only who I am, but whose I am, and that I was built for this storm called life.”

With a strong and compassionate mindset, Indira has been taking the center to new heights. The DC Rape Crisis Center is dedicated to creating a world free from sexual violence. The center is the oldest rape crisis center in the country and the only rape crisis center in Washington, DC, that holds a local, national, and international footprint in the global sexual assault movement. The center was founded in 1972 and is celebrating 50 years of providing services to survivors of sexual assault. The DC Rape Crisis Center serves the most vulnerable and marginalized survivors of sexual assault. The call to action obliges the center to build the capacity of the Washington, DC, community and beyond to respond to survivors of sexual assault with compassion and dignity.

The strategies of the DC Rape Crisis Center implore an intersectional, anti-oppression, and community-based lens in how it approaches its work, both in its work with survivors of sexual violence and in its work to create accountable community responses. As such, the DC Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC) works at the intersections of sexual assault and offers a unique focus on serving the whole survivor through a trauma-informed, survivor-centered, and culturally responsive lens that works to break down the barriers of those disproportionally impacted by sexual violence, predominantly low-income, LGBTQI and people of color.

For 50 + years, the DC Rape Crisis Center has created programs and services that have a direct response to racism and oppression. This is further reflected in the critical role that the center has played in the acute continuum of care for survivors of sexual assault as the only rape crisis center in Washington, DC. For a time such as this, the DC Rape Crisis Center continues to provide unparalleled services to survivors of sexual assault in Washington, DC.

The DC Rape Crisis Center has been operating in unprecedented times during this post-COVID pandemic era. The requests for services and needs of survivors have increased significantly, and the center has been expanding services to meet the continued need and serve survivors holistically.