Menaka's Story

Volunteer Advocate

For Menaka, the phrase “Think globally, act locally” rings true in her volunteerism for Cleveland Rape Crisis Center. Menaka spent several years in New York City working for Witness, an organization that uses film to reveal human rights violations around the world. In this work, Menaka noticed an alarming commonality. “No matter where the atrocity was taking place, rape was always a component of the human rights violations we were witnessing around the world,” she explains. This injustice always troubled Menaka, even after she left the organization to return to Cleveland. She felt compelled to do her part to help make a chinage.

After doing some research, Menaka discovered Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, and soon began her volunteer training to become a hotline worker. “I was thrilled to find out that Cleveland had such a strong rape crisis center.” After finishing her hotline training, Menaka has been volunteering a few shifts a month for the past 3 years.

Although each call is unique, it’s when young girls reach out for help through the hotline  that Menaka is affected the most. One younger caller contacted the hotline after she had been raped, and began suffering from insomnia. “She called me because she couldn’t sleep, and wanted to talk. We were on the phone for hours. I was just happy to be a calming voice for her and be there for her in the middle of the night when she really needed it.”

Menaka marvels at the model of the hotline. “It can be 3 a.m., Christmas day, and someone will pick up the phone and be there to listen. Always.  And each call is different. Sometimes we get callers who were assaulted 30 years ago. Sometimes it’s the family member or friend of the survivor. Each one is unique.”

The variety of programs, support groups, and therapies are powerful resources that Menaka is happy to be able to offer to hotline callers. “Being able to refer someone to the resources that they desperately need is empowering,” Menaka shares.

Even though Menaka has witnessed the harm that rape and sexual assault cause on a global level, she also recognizes the importance of acting locally, working with Cleveland Rape Crisis Center to make a difference in the lives of those impacted by rape and sexual assault.   And she is making a difference, one call at a time.