Women's Crisis Center (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

Women's support group founded in 1971 to aid and counsel victims of rape and abuse.

The idea of a Women's Crisis Center (WCC) for victims of rape was conceived in the Fall of 1971 after a series of rapes on the north side of Ann Arbor. Founded by Marnie Heyn as an agency to aid victims of rape and abuse and to provide counseling service, the WCC began operation on November 16, 1971 in offices on the second floor of the Michigan Union. Practical services provided by the Center included legal aid, emergency medical assistance for rape and assault cases, contraceptive information, abortion counseling, suicide prevention, and drug help. In response to the recent rapes, the Center organized volunteer squads of four women to patrol campus areas at night and established "crisis aid stations" to serve as refuge for women followed or harassed on the street. Because of a controversy between the Michigan Union Board and the Office of Student Services over the authority to locate space in the Union, the first WCC had to disband.

On April 24, 1972, the WCC was reestablished with its office in the basement of St. Andrews Episcopal Church at 306 N. Division St. It moved in February 1976 to a new location at 325 E. Summit and again in February 1977 to 211 1/2 N. Fourth Avenue, sharing the second floor with "Womanspace," a feminist bookstore. In the Fall of 1982, the Center moved back to St. Andrews Church.

The reestablished WCC continued many of the practical services provided in 1971 but also had more general aims and was concerned about the role of women in society. Its basic objectives in the 1970s were to reduce anxiety for women in crisis situations by providing counseling and practical assistance and by encouraging women's self-help and personal growth through continuing education.

In meeting some of its goals, the WCC sponsored conferences on "Women and the Law," "Female Sexuality" and "Employment Opportunities for Women," and supported the organization of Assault Crisis Centers (ACC) in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor to handle all counseling and direct services to victims of rape and domestic violence in Washtenaw County. Other accomplishments of the WCC included the creation of a Task Force called the Rape Education Committee and the publication in 1973 of Freedom from Rape, a 16-page pamphlet dealing with myths about rape. Also of some significance, the women of the Center took part in the Michigan Legislative Task Force on Rape which wrote a model rape law and lobbied for its passage in the State Legislature. The new law - Michigan Criminal Sexual Conduct Act, Public Act 266 - took effect on April 1, 1975.

In the 1980s, the WCC continued its operation of a 12-hour-a-day hotline for women needing help with problems ranging from domestic violence and sexual assault to finding transportation or a place to live. In addition, the Center also served as a field placement for students in women's studies, psychology, and social work. Women of the Center were involved in the Citizen's Advisory Committee of Rape Prevention (CACORD) and Ann Arbor Coalition Against Rapes (AACAR), an association that organized self-defense workshops and an annual march, "Take Back The Night." In 1987-1989, the WCC published Free Women's Words, a "free bi-monthly Women's newsjournal."

The WCC ceased operation in September 1990.