Harvey Weinstein scandal led to increase in hotline calls, RAINN officials say (Report)

A national sexual assault hotline has reported a record number of increased calls in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the largest anti-sexual assault organization in the U.S. has said that in the last two weeks, calls to their hotline has gone up by nearly a quarter over the same period last year. The spike occurred after the allegations against the Hollywood mogul first went public two weeks ago.

“We’ve been helping over 800 people a day,” RAINN president Scott Berkowitz said to Fox News. “Overall, over the last couple of weeks, it’s up 21 percent over prior [time periods].”

The increase comes as a larger national discussion about sexual assault and abuse of power has come to the forefront.

“Some nights, even though we’ve brought on dozens of additional staff to answer the hotline we’ve seen queues as high as…