Lady Gaga and former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden are planning to launch trauma centres for female victims of sexual assault.
Lady Gaga has become a leading campaigner for the It’s On Us initiative, which Biden and President Barack Obama set up in 2014 to eradicate sexual assault on U.S. college campuses.
Now Biden, 75, says he and Gaga are planning to open centres which can provide help to those traumatised by sexual violence.
“Women who are abused end up having long-term physical and physiological problems,” he told Entertainment Weekly at Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year Summit on Monday. “I’m working with Lady Gaga now…we (want to) set up trauma centres where women can go to get the long-term help they need to deal with these crises.
A spokesperson for the former VP confirmed the pair had been discussing the project, but said they are “in the early stages”.
Gaga, who is herself a rape survivor, appeared with Biden at the 2016 Oscars, when he introduced her performance of Til It Happens to You, the track which features in The Hunting Ground, a documentary highlighting sex crimes on campuses.
Last month , Gaga again teamed up with Biden, who has described her as “a great friend”, to release a new video urging men and women to intervene if they see anyone engaging in inappropriate sexual behaviour.
The topic of sexual assault has rarely been out of the headlines since the publication of an explosive report in The New York Times detailed numerous sexual assault allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Weinstein now faces police investigations in the U.K. and U.S. and his outing emboldened both male and female survivors of sexual assault to come forward with accusations.
A host of entertainment industry figures have been accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour ranging from lewd conduct to rape, including Kevin Spacey, comic Louis C.K., and the directors, James Toback and Brett Ratner.
