NEW YORK, N.Y. — Survivors of sexual violence in the Bronx borough of New York now have a support program based inside a hospital for the first time. NYC Health + Hospitals launched a Rape Crisis Program at its North Central Bronx campus this week, giving the borough just its second rape crisis program of any kind.
The free and confidential service offers one-on-one and group counseling, sends trained advocates to sit with survivors during forensic and medical exams in the emergency room, and helps people find their way through the medical, legal and prosecution process. Survivors can reach a counselor at any hour through a dedicated hotline, 718-519-5722.
The need is sharp. A June 2025 city data brief ranked the Bronx first among the five boroughs, per capita, for complaints of rape and other sex crimes. Until now the borough had one rape crisis program, at Kingsbridge Heights Community Center, while Manhattan has six that are based in hospitals. As of 2024, the Bronx had only 11 advocates serving the entire borough.
Eight volunteer advocates are already working with survivors at the North Central Bronx and Jacobi campuses. Starting in January, the hospital will run 40-hour training sessions for residents who want to become advocates, with room to train as many as 60 people a year. State criminal justice grant money is paying for the program.
For decades, said Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, her office ran the only state-accredited rape crisis center inside a prosecutor’s office, until state health rules changed, and she called the new program a fair share of resources for the borough. It is the second hospital-based program in the public health system, after one at Bellevue.
Filed under: New York NY Health News
