NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — BrightHouse director Sue Wray says they are seeing more need than ever for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.
"We served 728 last year," Wray said. "About 15% of those were sexual assault victims."
BrightHouse is willing to serve victims, even if they aren't sure they are ready to prosecute offenders.
"We do not report to law enforcement unless the victim is comfortable with that," Wray said. "If that's what they want, that's what we will do, but they do not have to do that and that's important with sexual assault in particular, because there's so much shame associated with it."
The number of victims BrightHouse serves has continued to rise, but the overall scope is still unclear.
"You don't know," Wray said. "The people who aren't coming to us, you don't know how many people are not getting help from us or the police or whoever. There has been a consistent growth rate. That might be that we have more services available, so sometimes it might be that we're able to help people better, but we're not really sure what's causing that increase. We're not sociologists and such, but we just know that it's happening."
If you have a need any time 24-7, You can call (620) 663-2522.