Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Mother Jones reports:
On the House floor Monday night—in a speech that was jarring, graphic, and nearly an hour long—Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) made disturbing allegations of sexual abuse against four men from her home state, one of whom is her ex-fiancé. All of this has, unsurprisingly, attracted ample news coverage.
But one aspect of the explosive speech has gone unexamined: A so-called hotline that Mace said she set up to encourage victims to come forward—which nobody actually answers, and which leading domestic and sexual violence advocates in Mace’s home state of South Carolina say they don’t want victims to call.
Every time, the line rang repeatedly before ending with an automated message from Mace herself: “Hi, this is Congresswoman Nancy Mace, and you’ve reached our office victim hotline. Please note your information is confidential. Please leave a detailed message and we will contact you as soon as possible. You may also text us at this number.”
Read the full article. There’s much more. No paywall. Mace promoted the “hotline” number multiple times yesterday on X.
SCOOP @MotherJones: Nancy Mace’s so-called “victim hotline” isn’t a hotline—it’s a voicemail box that nobody answers (I called 3x today).
South Carolina victims service providers DO NOT want survivors to call it—call state or national hotlines instead!https://t.co/rmIvMm0n94
— Julianne McShane (@JulianneMcShane) February 12, 2025
People who answer domestic/s*xual violence hotlines typically get certified by their state (or train for hours if they’re volunteers)
Who certifies trauma-informed victim advocates in SC? The Attorney General’s office—the same one Mace railed against.https://t.co/rmIvMlZPjw
— Julianne McShane (@JulianneMcShane) February 12, 2025
All told: Sounds like a lot of people called that number today and probably disclosed abuse—maybe for the first time—not to a compassionate, trauma-informed advocate like they’d get at a real hotline, but to an answering machine. pic.twitter.com/cOKlXUpjtA
— Julianne McShane (@JulianneMcShane) February 12, 2025
Mace still promoting this phone line after I told her staff about advocates’ concerns several hours ago now.
She also still has the number in her X banner, falsely labeled as a “hotline.” https://t.co/xwSsHS5vyW
— Julianne McShane (@JulianneMcShane) February 12, 2025