It seems as if you can’t open a newspaper these days without reading about yet another instance of sexual assault. The front page has been dominated by the pedophile-priest crisis that’s rocked the Archdiocese of Boston. To date, more than 80 area clergymen have been named as accused child molesters. But sexual abuse extends far beyond the Catholic Church. In the past month, we’ve heard about six high-school athletes who were arrested for raping four girls on the South Shore. We’ve heard about Judge Ernest Murphy, who released four rapists while reportedly advising a 14-year-old victim to "get over it." And we’ve heard about the violent attacks that have repeatedly taken place outside Dorchester’s Ashmont T station. Things have grown bad, it seems. So bad that victims’-rights advocates called on Governor Jane Swift to declare a sexual-assault "state of emergency" last week. Leading this call to action is Judith Beals, who directs the advocacy group Jane Doe Inc. The Phoenix caught up with Beals recently to discuss the state of rape in Massachusetts.

Q: Is "crisis" too strong a word to describe what we’re seeing these days?

A: Crisis is not too strong a word. The number of Massachusetts families and children who have been impacted by sexual violence is staggering. That is nothing new. There has always been sexual abuse, rape, and stalking. What is new is the heightened attention to sexual assault in recent weeks due to the reporting around clergy sexual abuse and the high-profile cases of teenage-rape and other court actions. That attention creates a unique opportunity for us to respond to what has always been a crisis.

Q: Why has sexual assault risen to this level?

A: We’re seeing what has always been the case. But there is a confluence of incidents right now that simply don’t let us ignore the issue anymore. That’s what’s going on here. I really look to what happened with the O.J. Simpson case, as well as a series of high-profile homicides that had occurred in Massachusetts about 10 years ago. Those incidents of domestic violence were not new. What was new about them was that people could not ignore the issue any longer. They ended up yielding a lot of concerted effort and work around domestic violence and sexual assault. Today, what we’re seeing isn’t new. But the level of frustration and the level of anger about it among the public is.

Q: Of the stories that we’ve seen recently, which one stays with you most?

A: Each is very familiar to those of us who have worked with victims for a long time. Nonetheless, each is horrifying. To me, the reports that we have heard about sexual assaults by high-school athletes against underage girls are alarming. They demonstrate a lack of training and awareness around sexual-assault issues in the schools, as well as a profound inability [of] young people to speak up and take action against the violence in their lives. Obviously, the stories of clergy sexual abuse reported daily are horrifying — in themselves and in the inadequacy of the Church’s response. Child sexual abuse is not unique to any particular faith or faith-based organization. It occurs across the spectrum. These cases are about people in positions of power and control. In all these sexual-assault cases, the underlying reality is a relationship in which one person has dominance, power, and control, while the other lacks power and the ability to really speak out about it — both personally and in our social structure.

Q: Is declaring a "state of emergency" more than a symbolic nod to the problem?

A: The reason we did this is because we think it’s very important to draw connections between those incidents reported on a daily basis. These cases are not isolated. They’re part of a much larger problem of sexual violence. By declaring a state of emergency, government officials, advocacy organizations, medical professionals, faith-based organizations, public schools, and everyone else affected by sexual violence can make a commitment to build on the work already being done. We want to bring that work to a new level, with a more coordinated statewide response. There’s often a desire to find easy solutions to this problem. We hope if we remove somebody from office or pass a new law or expand an existing law, then we’ll have dealt with the issue. But there are no easy fixes. We have to work across boundaries to find solutions. Jane Doe Inc. draws important lessons from the domestic-violence movement. We draw great hope from then-governor William Weld’s commission on domestic violence and other tools that have brought folks to the table who weren’t talking to each other about the issue before. Tremendous progress has made around domestic violence as a result. It’s time to catch up when it comes to fighting sexual assault.

Q: How has Massachusetts measured up to other states in fighting sexual violence?

A: We have a lot to be proud of. We have a strong network of rape-crisis centers, our laws have improved, as have the courts’ response. I’d never underestimate the progress that has been made. But in reality, there’s sexual violence going on that we have yet to hear about. There are far too many victims, and attitudes among young people remain a source of alarm. We still face a crisis of enormous proportions.

Q: So what do we need to do now?

A: Last year, Jane Doe Inc. spent time listening to people in this state, from survivors to police officers to rape-crisis workers. We came up with priority areas, which we outlined in a report called "A Call to Action." It identified important gaps in our system in criminal justice, prevention, and health care. Most importantly, it identified the great need to build a coordinated response at the statewide level. Bits and pieces of important work are going on across the state, but we have yet to knit it all together. Establishing a governor’s commission is one avenue for doing it because it brings everyone to the table.

Q: Have you gotten a response from Swift yet?

A: We have actually not heard from Swift. I remain hopeful that she will respond to us directly. Today [February 26], we sent letters to the governor’s office reiterating our call for her to declare a state of emergency. In Massachusetts, there’s probably no better time than now to mobilize around this issue. Sexual violence can be eradicated. Social ills have gone away or disappeared to a great extent in the past. This has to be one of them.