Response offers Support

To the editors:

Regarding the article written by Jenny E. Heller about sexual assault on the Harvard campus, we would like publicly to acknowledge both women who were interviewed by Perspective for their strength and courage. Their candid and honest accounts, as well as Perspective's sensitive presentation of them, were invaluable in informing the student body of a crime that is too often ignored.

Both Perspective and The Crimson have honestly portrayed rape as a serious and existing crime on the Harvard campus. Unfortunately, it is a crime that carries a stigma of being unmentionable. There undoubtedly exist other victims of sexual violence within the community who have chosen not to speak, either publicly or privately, about their experiences.

We at Response offer our services to the Harvard community. Response is a confidential and non-directive peer-counseling group. Our staff is composed of undergraduate women who receive extensive counseling training primarily about relationships, harassment, sexual abuse and rape.

Response can be reached by telephone any night of the week from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., or by dropping by our room in the basement of Lowell House (E-013) from 8 p.m. to midnight. We believe strongly that if something is bothering you, it is serious enough to call. We make our services available in the hope that no member of the community feels the need to bear such a heavy burden alone. THE RESPONSE CO-DIRECTORS   >Feb. 19, 1999

Due to the sensitive of their work, the identities of Response counselors are confidential.