Pandemic impact poses difficulty for Borderland center working with sex assault victims

EL PASO, Texas -- April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Covid-19 has impacted the way we do everything, and a Borderland shelter that works with sexual assault survivors is no different.

“It’s just very difficult right now and all we need to let them know is that we’re here for them,” said Bridgette Vejil, a volunteer at the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence in El Paso. “We will do whatever we can to help them.”

While the shelter has stayed open throughout the entirety of the pandemic, the center has been doing all therapy sessions virtually.

Just last month they began doing some hybrid group therapy sessions, but prior to that most of their rooms hadn’t been used since March.

Bridgette told ABC-7 that doing things virtually has made it much harder to connect with abuse survivors. 

Not only that, but not as many people have been reaching out for help during the pandemic. 

“Unfortunately, we predict that obviously as Covid winds down and we get to some sort of normalcy and people feel safer going out and accessing services at the hospital or special services, those numbers will continually go back up to what it was before,” said Sandra Nevareasy Garcia, the center's executive director.

If you need help or want to reach out, their hotline number is 915-593-7300.