The Sexual Assault and Rape Anonymous Hotline (S.A.R.A.H.) at WashU is ceasing 24/7 service after almost 10 years, citing decreased staff capacity. The peer hotline will now only be available from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m starting Feb. 6 and through to the end of the semester.

S.A.R.A.H. is a peer-counseling service that is available for students to discuss sexual assault, sexual harassment, intimate partner and sexual violence, relationships, and mental and sexual health. S.A.R.A.H. is one of the few peer hotlines offered on campus and the only one dedicated to sexual health and violence.

Senior Caroline Cramer, the external facilitator and co-president of S.A.R.A.H., said the hotline is strategically choosing hours they will be available to ensure students will still have resources. S.A.R.A.H. is part of the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention (RSVP) Center at WashU, and the RSVP Center itself is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Additionally, Uncle Joe’s Peer Counseling is available from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m every day of the week.

Cramer also said she remains hopeful that S.A.R.A.H. will return to 24/7 access in semesters to come, depending on staffing availability.

Kim Webb, director of the RSVP Center, said the center will continue to have a 24/7 emergency line available.

“After 5 p.m. and on weekends and holidays, we have an on-call counselor who is available for situations that involve risk to safety or harm that has occurred within the past five days,” Webb wrote in an email to Student Life. “We can facilitate or discuss emergency options such as hospital care, medications, alternative housing, orders of protection, etc.”

Additionally, she said that the RSVP Center should be able to accommodate the foreseen increase in demand for their services, given that S.A.R.A.H. is no longer operating 24/7. 

“We have the current capacity to cover the potential increase in appointments and the needs that arise due to S.A.R.A.H.’s reduction in hours,” Webb wrote. “I do not anticipate needing any adaptations immediately. However, if we find that we need to make changes to meet the needs, we will do what we need to do to continue to serve students first.”

Cramer said the decision to cease 24/7 functioning was unanimous, with every S.A.R.A.H. peer counselor agreeing it was best for the organization given the staffing issues. Cramer speculated that the time-intensive nature of recruitment and training, in conjunction with individual S.A.R.A.H. members dealing with external circumstances, could explain member loss.

New S.A.R.A.H. members train for more than 100 hours in the first spring they are a member and, as active members (Actives), complete around 360 hours of on-call time per semester. Cramer explained that Actives also do other work that is not factored into the 360 hours, such as training new members.

“We do all of our training in-house, [so] the members who are already in S.A.R.A.H. — ‘Actives’ — help with all the training during the spring,” Cramer said. “We only can really have as many trainees as we can support, Actives helping them out. Not that it’s a one-to-one ratio, but because of that, we couldn’t accept a ton of people this last fall. I think we’ve also lost members throughout this year, more than we typically do.”

Further, some Actives, if they choose to, can also participate in outreach to other student organizations on campus.

“We present to other student groups on how they can be a good friend for someone who’s going through this,” Cramer said. “We not only help survivors or help people who just want to call; we also have people who care about their friends [and] family members who might have experienced any mental health issues, but also any sexual assault.”

Cramer said S.A.R.A.H. can also present on Title IX and reproductive health in the St. Louis area.

Every S.A.R.A.H. peer counselor is completely anonymous, and the callers’ identities are also protected. Cramer said that though this is a key tenet of the organization, it can also make outreach difficult.

“I think that sometimes it’s a challenge because we can’t advertise as much about how S.A.R.A.H. can be a resource because our members themselves can’t advertise,” Cramer said. “[That] is how you hear about a lot of student groups on campuses — their members talking to other people about how cool their organization is and what change they’re making on campus.”

Webb said the students who work as S.A.R.A.H. peer counselors are exceptionally dedicated and hardworking, and the decision to cut 24/7 service came after much deliberation.

“The students who have committed to being a S.A.R.A.H. peer counselor are among the most dedicated student leaders I have ever worked with,” Webb said. “When they realized how difficult it was to fill shifts this spring due to students being abroad and a few students leaving for some demanding academic endeavors, they had very intentional and thoughtful conversations about how they could continue providing quality and ethical care to our community.”

To Cramer’s knowledge, no S.A.R.A.H. peer counselor has ever publicly announced they were a member of S.A.R.A.H., but in the midst of this shift, Cramer felt compelled to assure WashU students that the decision to cease 24/7 operations was made in the interest of both the members of S.A.R.A.H. and the student population.

“I think a statement can sometimes read quite blank, and I want to have continued trust with our callers and keep encouraging them to call,” Cramer said. “Know that we’re here, and you can always call. We want to serve the WashU community as best as possible and hope that this decision doesn’t lose any trust or support in S.A.R.A.H.”