By Scott Monroe
Staff Writer

WATERVILLE - Reported sexual assaults increased 16 percent in Maine last year. One in five Maine residents have reported being victims of sexual assault in their lifetime. The state's domestic abuse hotline is called every 12 minutes.

Those statistics point to a startling trend in Maine. Now, state and local agencies have partnered with Wal-Mart stores in Maine to try and increase awareness of the hotlines available to victims.

Gov. John Baldacci announced at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Waterville on Friday that the store and 10 others now print two toll-free numbers for domestic and sexual abuse victims at the bottom of receipts.

The stores print more than 350,000 receipts a week, Baldacci said, and it's a "unique and non-threatening" way of getting the information out to people in need.

"All of this is designed to give out the information and break the cycle of violence," Baldacci said.

The 11 Wal-Mart stores will also hang posters with the phone numbers in every male and female restroom.

For sexual-assault support, call 1-800-871-7741. The domestic-assault hotline is 1-866-834-HELP.