VICTORIA -- Island realtors are rallying in support of the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre, after three real estate agents were fired over allegations of sexual assault last week.
A GoFundMe page has raised nearly half of its $250,000 goal in just two days.
The page, titled Real Estate Professionals of Victoria, was created by Brentwood Bay realtor Dean Bayles.
A statement on the fundraising page says, "as a collective of agents we’re upset and deeply disturbed with the recent information that has become public. We’d like to show our support for the women of Victoria that are dealing with the heavy burden of being sexually abused."
The Victoria Sexual Assault Centre says the allegations against the three realtors are troubling.
"Hearing the story of the women who have been sexually assaulted is horrifying. Its' absolutely terrible, what’s happened to them," said Carissa Ropponen, manager of resource development and communications for the VSAC.
The funding through this initiative will go a long way to help support the victims of sexualized violence, according to the centre.
"In the fall, our crisis counselling ended up having a four-month-long waitlist," said Ropponen. "(But) because of donations, because of grants and support from the community, we were able to fundraise last year and drop that waitlist down and see survivors immediately."
“And we want to continue to do that and this money is going to allow us to do that," she said. "It’s going to allow us to add more hours to our programming. It’s absolutely incredible."
If you are a victim of sexual violence or would like to learn more about the centre, you can call 250-383-3232 or visit vsac.ca.
If you would like to make a donation to the Victoria Sexual assault Centre, you can do that here.
