Women Organized Against Rape (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records

In response to growing concern over the issue of rape in the city of Philadelphia, Artist, Jody Pinto and Dr Cynthia Cooke, a gynecologist, began organizing for a rape crisis center at Philadelphia General Hospital in 1972. The following year, in 1973, Woman Organized Against Rape (WOAR) was established.

A grassroots effort from the start, WOAR recruited and trained volunteers to staff several direct service programs including 24-hour support for rape victims in the emergency room at Philadelphia General and other area hospitals, court room accompaniment for victims, and a 24-hour hotline.

Its program expanded to include community education and training workshops, which it delivered widely. Workshops designed to prevent and educate about rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse, and other related issues were given to audiences in law enforcement, hospitals and doctor's offices, corporate settings, schools, including preschools and day care centers, universities and colleges, and a variety of neighborhood organizations. It wrote and distributed educational literature on the same topics, some of which were published in English and Spanish.

WOAR partnered with several Philadelphia law enforcement and other government agencies in the development of specialty units and services for victims of sexual assault, rape and related crimes. The Criminal Justice Model, developed by WOAR in 1977, was integral in the formation of the Rape Prosecution Unit in the office of the Philadelphia District Attorney in 1978 and in the formation of the Sex Crimes Unit of the Philadelphia Police Department in 1981. Also on the forefront of legislative change in Pennsylvania, WOAR was instrumental in and/or worked diligently towards landmark rape reform rulings such as: "rape shield law" (1976), making prior sexual history inadmissible; "confidential communications law" (1982), establishing confidentiality between rape crisis counselors and victims; and the "marital rape law" (1985).

WOAR was instrumental in the creation of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR), a state-wide coalition of rape crisis centers, and was one of the founding members of Women's Way, Philadelphia's fundraising agency for services to women, in 1976. In 1989, WOAR hosted the 11th Annual Conference of the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NCASA) with Sonia Sanchez, Sandra Butler, and Angela Davis delivering keynote addresses. This conference featured a Women of Color Institute, that sought to provide women of color a safe space to discuss the issue of rape and related crimes within their communities.

WOAR worked to reach women from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds and sexual orientations. They led recruitment campaigns targeting Black women, Asian women, and other women of color for their volunteer program, delivered their community education and training workshops widely, and kept demographic statistics about their volunteer staff as well as their clients.

The Women Organized Against Rape Records include meeting minutes, correspondence, reports, financial records, publications, program and project files, subject files, statistical data sets, and other materials. The records offer documentation of WOAR's day to day operations, planning and advocacy work, direct service programs to help and advocate for victims of rape and sexual violence, as well as its wide-ranging educational workshops. Additionally, there are records for conferences developed and hosted by WOAR, including the 11th annual conference of the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and a variety of one-time special projects. There are copies of WOAR's newsletters and other publications. Of note, are records produced through WOAR's partnerships with the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the Philadelphia Police Department in the 1970s and 1980s, when it advocated for and helped those agencies establish specialty units for the investigation and prosecution of rape and other sexual crimes. The majority of the records are paper; however some digital records were captured and transferred from 3.5 and 5.25 inch floppy disks. Digital records are described in greater detail at the series level and within the inventory.

The collection is arranged into 7 series as follows:
Series 1: General administration records [RESTRICTIONS apply], 1973-1996
Series 2: Financial records [RESTRICTIONS apply], 1973-1997
Series 3: Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR) records, 1978-1993
Series 4: Legal Department records [RESTRICTIONS apply], 1975-1991
Series 5: Data sets and statistics, 1973-1993
Series 6: Publications, publicity, and outreach records, 1973-1995
Series 7: Public programs and direct services records, 1973-1997
Sub-series 7.1: Program planning and other administrative records, 1973-1997
Sub-series 7.2: Volunteer program records, 1975-1995
Sub-series 7.3: Community Education and Training records, 1977-1994
Sub-series 7.4: Direct Service programs for victims records [RESTRICTIONS apply], 1973-1978

Additions to this collection are expected. For information on material–physical and digital, that may have been added since the last finding aid update, please contact the Special Collections Research Center.

Donated by Women Organized Against Rape in 1980, 1996, and 1998.

Original audiovisual materials, as well as preservation and duplicating masters, may not be played. Researchers must consult use copies, or if none exist must pay for a use copy. Digital records on storage media may not be used. Researchers must consult access copies of digital records accessible onsite in the SCRC reading room. If access copies do not exist, SCRC staff will create access copies on demand. Certain digital files may also be inaccessible. Please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.

Collection processed and finding aid prepared in 1998 by Sarah Sherman, Associate Archivist. Collection was reorganized and a new finding aid prepared in 2021 by Courtney Smerz, Collection Management Archivist.

Use

The Women Organized Against Rape Records are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. The creator/donor has not assigned their rights to Temple University Libraries. Other creators' intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to them or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Women Organized Against Rape Records, SCRC 415, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Publisher

Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center

Finding aids author

Courtney Smerz

Creator

Women Organized Against Rape (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Subject

Rape victims -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Rape -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Women's rights -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Hospitals -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Organization

Philadelphia (Pa.). District Attorney's Office

Philadelphia (Pa.). Police Department

Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape

National Coalition Against Sexual Assault (U.S.)

Philadelphia General Hospital

Language

English

Form

Administrative records

Case files

Clippings

Financial records

Floppy disks

Ledgers (account books)

Legal documents

Minutes (administrative records)

Newsletters

Publications (documents)

Reports

Correspondence

video recordings (physical artifacts)