New Life Center, the state’s largest domestic violence shelter, announces it will open one of the first sexual violence and rape crisis centers 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 24, at 3826 N. 3rd St., The Firehouse in downtown Phoenix.

The New Life Center Sunshine Healing Services center will help victims of rape, sexual violence and human trafficking.

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, who has led several New Life Center law enforcement trainings about best practices for support victims of sexual assault, will be in attendance to give remarks on the importance of providing these services to survivors of SA, HT and rape.

According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, every 68 seconds, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted. Prevalence data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that 43.6% of women, and 24.8% of men in the United States has experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetimes. Applying those statistics to Maricopa County population data, NLC estimates that 757,000 women and 420,380 men in Maricopa County have been victims of sexual assault in their lifetimes.