DELAWARE WATER GAP, Pa. — For more than 40 years, Women's Resources of Monroe County has created a safe space for victims of domestic and sexual abuse, and moving forward that won't change.
Officials unveiled the new name with the goal of being more inclusive.
Executive Director Lauren Peterson says the new name—Safe Monroe—encompasses all walks of life, not just women.
"I had a gentleman giving us a call on our hotline and he said, 'Well, I'm not a woman, but I feel like I could use your services. Is there a way you can help me, too?' And I had to explain to him, 'Well, yes, even though our name says Women's Resources, we are here for everybody, anybody who is a victim or survivor of abuse,'" Peterson said.
Marissa Buatti is a sexual assault counselor with the organization. She says the name change will help include a group of people who are often forgotten.
"A lot of times, men are affected by domestic violence as much as women, whether it's directly as a victim or a significant other, and I mean, I personally have a couple of male victim clients who come in for consulting, and it's a lot of rapport-building, trying to get them to understand, like, I'm not judgmental, we're not judgmental. It's just the name," Buatti said.
Officials say their old name only targeted one audience: women. Now, they're hoping that their new name, Safe Monroe, will be able to help anybody in the county.
"A couple of other agencies in the Commonwealth have changed their names, taking gender out of it, and what they have seen is the number of those who identify as women have stayed the same, but they have seen an increase in people who identify as men, LGBTQ+ community, and other people have been more comfortable to reach out," said Peterson.
Safe Monroe has a new name with the same goal: to provide free and confidential services for all victims of sexual or domestic abuse.
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