National Domestic Violence Hotline

The National Domestic Violence Hotline is a non-profit organization established in 1996 as a component of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

Crisis line options

  • Hotline: 1.800.799.7233
  • Textline: Text LOVEIS to 1.800.787.3224
  • Online Chat: Available from the home page

The organization also offers an interactive safety plan that develops a set of actions that can help lower your risk of being hurt by your partner or family member. It includes information specific to you and your life that will increase your safety at school, home, and other places that you go on a daily basis.

  • At the end of the process, you will have a printable version of your personalized safety plan that you can reference whenever you need it. You can read it online, print it immediately, or have a link sent to your email. The link will be active for 24 hours; after that, your information will be deleted from the website.

The organization provides information for those wanting to support victims on the Support Others page. This page provides information on how to start a conversation about concerns of someone being in an abusive relationship, how someone can help a victim, and why people stay.

More information and resources can be found on National Domestic Violence Hotline.

DomesticShelters.org

DomesticShelters.org provides the “largest online and mobile searchable directory of domestic violence programs and shelters in the U.S. and Canada, and a leading source of helpful tools and information for people experiencing and working to end domestic violence”. The map can be found on Find Help.

The organization provides a series of toolkits on Commonly Asked Questions covering topics of gaslighting, power and control, types of abuse, and more. Additionally there are a series of blog posts on a range of topics, that can be found on Articles. Under the Resources tab, information can be found about lists of common attributes of relationship issues or abuse, comprehensive guides, mobile apps for victim-survivors, recommended books or podcasts, and more.

Me Too Movement

The #MeToo Movement took social media by storm in October 2017, originally founded by Taran Burke in 2006, to share the impact and prevalence of sexual violence in communities. The organization that developed from this movement continues to work to provide assistance to a large spectrum of survivors.

Links:

Home– Organization’s main page

Resource Library– a library of resources filterable by experience, needs, and identity (gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity and race)

Healing Room– a virtual room that provide guided meditations, healing playlists, journaling, and activities. Click around the “room” to find the different resources.

Support a Survivor– infosheet and toolkits for individuals in a survivor’s support network.

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood offers reproductive health care, sex education, and other information regarding similar topics to people all over the world. The organization aims to advocate for public policies that guarantee the rights and access to the services and education the organization can provide.

Under the learn tab (across the top bar), Planned Parenthood has provided educational material on a variety of topics. Notable topics include:

A breakdown of services can be found here: Our Services

Location in Kalamazoo: 4201 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo, MI 49006

Take Back the Night

Take Back the Night began in the 1960s to bring awareness to sexual violence and to support victims. Events all over the world contribute to the message of strength and support for survivors of sexual violence.

Take Back the Night offers free legal assistance. You can contact the legal support team through the following form (Free Legal Assistance) or call 567-SHATTER (567-742-8837). The legal team will provide support and resources, judgement-free.

The organization provides survivors with an opportunity to share their stories. Stories can be submitted here: Share Your Story. The collection also includes a few articles about recovery and sharing your survivor story as a form of empowerment.

Surviving in Numbers

Surviving in Numbers, a non-profit organization started in 2012, began as a small project to illustrate the prevalence of sexual violence on campuses. The efforts were initially concentrated on 4 campuses within the state of Massachusetts and has now since grown to allow for survivors all over the country to share their stories anonymously.

To submit your story, click here: Share Your Story

For more information on the organization, click here: Surviving in Numbers

Indelible Podcast

“Indelible”, a podcast started by Dr. Jill Christman and a group of undergraduate students at Ball State in Indiana, aims to start conversations surround sexual violence on college campuses. The first season comprises of five episodes with discussions on “the Red Zone”, trauma response, Title IX, legal processes, and self-empowerment.

Podcasts can be found on Simplecast, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

The group has also developed a number of resources for individuals who’ve experienced sexual violence. The website offers specific information about Title IX, for survivors, for loved ones. A list of literature sources are also provided on the website: Books, Films & TV, Music, and Podcasts.

More information about the project can be found here: Indelible Podcast

Survivor Support Facebook Group

Created by a survivor, this group is for survivors of assault, rape, or abuse. The groups focuses on the intersectionality of gender-based violence, racism, bigotry, etc. The group hopes to offer a safe space for fellow survivors to offer support to people going through the similar experiences. Survivors are able to share resources, healing exercises, videos, and articles that enable survivors to better understand and take control of their healing.

The group is private, and all posts are hidden to anyone but members. To join this group, you must be a survivor who is committed to healing and supporting fellow survivors, and follow the groups rules. To join, please fill out the form at Survivor Support.

The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project is a nation-wide organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention specific to the LGBTQIA+ community under 25.

The Trevor Project offers a support center that includes resources discussing different identities in the community, as well as questions specific to those identities. Resources can be found here: Trevor Support Center

Hotline: 1.866.488.7386

Textline: Text START to 678.678

Chat: Confidential online instant messaging