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Domestic Violence Resources Directory
If you’re struggling to cope in an abusive relationship, you’re not alone. Experts estimate that over 10 million Americans are affected by domestic violence every year. Whether it’s physical or verbal abuse, it’s not OK, and you can take action to stop it. These vetted helplines are here for you.
Domestic Violence Resource Center
Domestic Violence Resource
How We Help:The Domestic Violence Resource Center educates, supports and empowers survivors and their children who are affected by intimate partner violence by offering counseling, advocacy, shelter services and community outreach.
History:
The Domestic Violence Resource Center was established in October 1975 in Beaverton as Women Together, a community-based socia ...l group started by a domestic violence survivor that decided to address the needs of battered women in Washington County, Oregon. Incidentally, October is the National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
In 1977, the group received a large grant under the Comprehensive Education and Training Act (CETA), and hired four staff to provide services for survivors out of a tiny office in Hillsboro. The new organization adopted the name BEWARE, which stood for Battering Ended With Advocacy, Research and Education. The group promoted advocacy and empowerment as a way to end domestic violence, focusing on creating and providing opportunities in employment and education. According to Elena Uhing, one of BEWARE’s first staff members and a current Forest Grove city councilor, the group started out with a desk and a used typewriter.
In 1979, the group was offered a donation of a house and received a large grant to open the County’s first domestic violence shelter. To reflect the new focus and services, the organization changed its name in 1980 to SHELTER/A Resource for Battered Women. In 1982, another name change occurred, to SHELTER/Domestic Violence Resource Center. A 24-hour crisis line was also added. The Family Violence Intervention Program, a counseling and support group program, was established in 1986 with the help of the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services grant.
The late 1990s brought a dramatic expansion of services. In 1999, the old shelter building was sold, and another, bigger one acquired and remodeled with the help of Washington County Community Development Block Grant and a number of other generous donations. In October 2000, the shelter was renamed Monika’s House, in honor of Monika Voits who had been murdered by her husband on January 4, 1999. The Restraining Order Advocacy Program also began operating at the Washington County Courthouse in conjunction with Washington County Center for Victims’ Services.
In 2001, the agency underwent the final name change to its current form, Domestic Violence Resource Center. In 2004, the agency headquarters moved from the office in downtown Hillsboro to a more adequate space in the County’s Silicon Forest. DVRC is currently headquartered once again in downtown Hillsboro, and continues to grow to meet the needs of our clients.
Domestic Violence Resource Center remains Washington County’s sole provider of services specifically to victims and survivors of domestic violence.Read More »
For Men, For Women, For Children/Teens, Non-profits, Shelters
Location
Hillsboro, OR
Connect
Equality Now
Domestic Violence Resource
How We Help:Our Mission: to achieve legal and systemic change that addresses violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world.
History:
“When we launched in 1992, we had a deep conviction that we could and must act against the violation of women’s rights ar ...ound the world. We had a small dedicated group of volunteer activists in a few countries, and only on-the-street t-shirt sales to help with startup costs….we now have offices in New York, Nairobi and London as well as a presence in Amman, Jordan and Washington, DC. Our Action Network has grown to more than 35,000 members in 160 countries. Equality Now has become a standard for activism on the ground where we try to translate women’s needs into national, regional and international law, policy and practice including through regional and thematic coalitions that raise awareness and move the agenda forward.”
-Jessica Neuwirth, co-founder of Equality Now
Founded in 1992, Equality Now is an organization that advocates for the human rights of women and girls around the world by raising international visibility of individual cases of abuse, mobilizing public support through our global membership, and wielding strategic political pressure to ensure that governments enact or enforce laws and policies that uphold the rights of women and girls. With offices in New York, Nairobi and London and presences in Amman, Jordan and Washington, DC, our areas of focus include Discrimination in Law, Sexual Violence, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Trafficking. Combining grassroots activism with international, regional and national legal advocacy, we envision a world in which women and men have equal rights under the law and full enjoyment of those rights. Read More »
How We Help:WRAP is dedicated to providing services for women and their children victimized by domestic violence.
History:
The Women’s Rural Advocacy Programs, Inc. (WRAP) is a non-profit tax-exempt organization which received its determination l ...etter on May 29, 1997 from the Internal Revenue Service. The main purposes of WRAP is to provide safety options, shelter, and advocacy and referral services for battered women and their children and alleviate domestic violence in the communities of Southwest Minnesota. This grass roots network of women helping women began in October 1979.
The Womanspace and Yellow Medicine Women’s Center programs were started in Lyon and Yellow Medicine counties in 1994. WRAP operated as a corporation, with the Committee Against Domestic Violence (CADA), Mankato, Minnesota as its fiscal agent, from July 1, 1004 until June 30, 1997 when it obtained its own 501(c)(3) tax-exempt determination. Services to Lincoln, Murray and Redwood counties were added at this same time.Read More »
For Women, For Children/Teens, Shelters, Rape Crisis Centers
Location
Marshall, MN
The Joyful Heart Foundation
Domestic Violence Resource
How We Help:The vision of the Joyful Heart Foundation is a community with no sexual assault, domestic violence or child abuse.
History:
When Mariska Hargitay started playing Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 16 years ago, the content ...of the scripts, as well as the work she did to prepare for the role, opened her eyes to the epidemics of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. What she learned was staggering:
One in three women report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives.1
Every two minutes in the United States, someone is sexually assaulted.2
More than five children die every day in this country as a result of child abuse and neglect,3 and up to 15 million children witness domestic violence in their homes each year.4
But what really opened her eyes—and subsequently, her heart—was the fan mail she received. The letters didn't say, "I love your show. Can you send me an autographed picture?" They said, "I was raped when I was fifteen. I'm forty now and I've never told anyone." Survivors were disclosing their stories to her, many for the first time.
The fact that these individuals were revealing something so personal to someone they knew only as a character on television demonstrated to Mariska, and to all of us, how desperate they were to be heard, believed, supported and healed.
Her response was to create Joyful Heart.
Inspired by her deep connection and love for Hawai‘i, where she first experienced her own heart awakening, Mariska founded Joyful Heart in Kona in 2004, with the intention of helping sexual assault survivors heal and reclaim a sense of joy in their lives.
Since our inception in 2004, we have raised over $15 million to support our programs and directly served more than 15,000 individuals through our healing programs. We have connected with over 2.5 million individuals through our website and social media efforts. We have secured more than two billion impressions in digital and print media about our issues. And we've effected policy changes in jurisdictions from New York to California. We invite you to learn more about our reach here. Read More »
How We Help:The GLBTQ Domestic Violence Project provides free and confidential support and services for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
History:
GLBTQ-DVP was founded in 1994, as Support Services for Gay Male Victims of Violence, by a gay male survivor who was denied se ...rvices by multiple mainstream domestic violence shelters while fleeing an attempted murder at the hands of his abusive partner.
The organization initially focused on creating services for gay male victims of domestic violence and soon changed its name to the Gay Men's Domestic Violence Project. The scope of focus for the organization began expanding almost immediately for the organization, first to include bisexual men and transgender individuals and then to include all GLBTQ communities.
Over the past 20 years, GLBTQ-DVP has been at the forefront of creating services for GLBTQ survivors in Southern New England and across the United States. We now serve over 650 survivors annually, providing a comprehensive array of support services for survivors. Read More »
How We Help:Sanctuary for Families is New York’s leading service provider and advocate for survivors of domestic violence, sex trafficking, and related forms of gender violence.
History:
n 1984, a coalition of New Yorkers founded Sanctuary for Families to provide emergency housing and crisis intervention to vic ...tims of domestic violence. Since then, Sanctuary has grown into a $13 million organization recognized as one of the leading domestic violence service providers in New York City.
Sanctuary’s first office housed five employees at a church parish house in midtown Manhattan. By 1985, Sanctuary was able to provide shelter to 35 women and children each night, and offered a daycare program.
Sanctuary launched the Children’s Program in 1985, which offers specialized counseling, case management, and educational and recreational activities for child witnesses of domestic violence.
Three years later, the clinical staff began offering parenting workshops to shelter clients and follow-up support groups to former shelter clients—the beginning of the Continuing Care Program.
In 1989, the Legal Center began operating out of CUNY Law School in Queens with a staff of two attorneys, a pro-bono coordinator, and a paralegal.
In 1992, after six years of planning, Sanctuary opened Sarah Burke House, a transitional shelter in the Bronx that provides apartments to 56 families who have left crisis shelters and have not yet found permanent housing. That same year, Sanctuary moved to downtown Manhattan and became the first domestic violence agency in New York City to offer social services and legal assistance under one roof.
In 1998, Sanctuary expanded its non-residential services to the Bronx when it opened the Bronx Community Office. This community resource offers legal and clinical services to women and children who can achieve safety and independence without entering shelter.
Today, Sanctuary’s 150 full-time staff members provide integrated shelter, safety planning, legal services, individual and group counseling, housing and benefits assistance, and emergency material aid for women and children out of eight office and shelter locations, including, most recently, the Brooklyn Family Justice Center, opened in 2005. With 23 full-time staff attorneys, the Legal Center is the largest of its kind in the country.
Last year, Sanctuary provided direct services to over 8,100 women and children. Sanctuary also engages in vigorous outreach and advocacy, which educates some 20,000 concerned citizens annually about the crime of domestic violence and resources available to its victims, while promoting policy and systems change at local, state, national, and international levels. Read More »
For Men, For Women, For Children/Teens, For Elders, Shelters, Legal Help
Location
New York, NY
Connect
Not Under Bondage: Abuse, Adultery and Desertion
Domestic Violence Resource
How We Help:Does the Bible permit divorce for domestic abuse? May a divorced Christian remarry? Christian teaching on divorce and remarriage has varied widely. Interpretation of the biblical texts on divorce and remarriage has been hotly contested and the debate is still very much alive.
History:
Barbara Roberts has been raising awareness of domestic abuse within the conservative evangelical church since 1999. She is a ...survivor of domestic abuse and a conservative Christian who holds to the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. She has also read widely in the secular field of domestic abuse, trauma and recovery.
She co-leads the blog A Cry For Justice with Pastor Jeff Crippen where they are seeking to awaken the evangelical church to the evils of domestic violence and abuse in its midst.
Her book Not Under Bondage focuses on the doctrine of divorce for domestic abuse.
She has also written the chapter "Responding to Christian Survivors of Intimate Partner Sexual Abuse" in the multi-author book Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: A Multi-disciplinary Approach to Survivor Support and System Change.
She was converted to Christ in 1981 but for a long time had minimal biblical teaching and lingering confusion due to her former beliefs. She got sidetracked into other areas and did not get to church for nearly 14 years. Unaware that Christians should avoid marrying non-Christians, she married an unbeliever in 1989 and the couple had one daughter.
The marriage gradually became abusive and she occasionally took refuge in a women’s shelter. In 1994 she left her husband and started attending church and Bible study. That was when she became a professing Christian. Child custody was contested but eventually awarded to Barbara, with the husband granted access.
After four years her separated husband made a profession of faith and they reconciled as a married couple. The abuse recurred and she separated for the last time in 1999, divorcing a few years after that.
Many years later, she met a man who attested to being a fellow survivor of domestic abuse, and who assured her that he passionately supported her work on domestic abuse. He appeared to be a genuine Christian. She married this man in 2010 but the marriage ended in 2012 because of abuse. What he said didn't end up matching what he did.Read More »
How We Help:IWF's mission is to improve the lives of Americans by increasing the number of women who value free markets and personal liberty.
History:
Founded in 1992, the Independent Women’s Forum is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit educational institution. IWF focuses ... on issues of concern to women, men, and families. Its mission is to rebuild civil society by advancing economic liberty, personal responsibility, and political freedom. IWF fosters greater respect for limited government, equality under the law, property rights, free markets, strong families, and a powerful and effective national defense and foreign policy. IWF is home to the nation’s next wave of influential scholars—women who are committed to promoting and defending economic opportunity and political freedom.Read More »
AARDVARC: An Abuse, Rape & Domestic Violence Aid & Resource Collection
Domestic Violence Resource
How We Help:AARDVARC.org, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to combating family and relationship violence, sexual violence and child abuse.
History:
The organization was formed in 1996 and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2001 (IRS ruling received in 2004) by fo ...rmer victims of relationship and family violence for the purposes of assisting others to find resources, receive guidance, and enjoy the support and empathy of others who have "been there, done that". We went from victims to advocates - leaving our abusive situations and going on to run battered women's shelters or to work as police officers, 911 dispatchers, victim advocates, or counselors.
This national-scope website evolved in response to the many requests we received, and continue to receive, from victims, families, and professional agencies seeking assistance. We've worked for, and been served by, the types of resources presented on this site. We hope our experiences on both sides of the fence will prove to be helpful to you, our visitors.Read More »
For Men, For Women, For Children/Teens, Non-profits
Location
Altamonte Springs, FL
Praxis International, Inc.
Domestic Violence Resource
How We Help:Praxis International, Inc. is a nonprofit research and training organization that works toward the elimination of violence in the lives of women and children.
History:
Praxis was organized in 1997 by a small group of domestic violence activists. The primary goal of Praxis was to develop a met ...hod and process of examining institutional practices and their impact on women’s lives-which was eventually called a Safety Audit. Praxis has subsequently worked with a number of police and sheriff’s departments, the U.S. Coast Guard, several batterers educational programs, and various coordinated community response groups to carry out audits of their institutional responses to domestic violence cases.
Praxis means action, but not just any kind of action. It is the application of a science or an art to practical work—in other words, action that results from thinking things through. We chose the name Praxis for our organization because we want our work to help communities take action that is firmly anchored in the reality and perspectives of battered women. We want to integrate theory and practice into a Praxis that is functional and effective for women who are battered.
Since October 1998, Praxis has worked in partnership with Violence Against Women Office, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice to provide training and technical assistance to recipients of grants under the Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement Grant Program. We serve grantees from rural jurisdictions throughout the United States –including 38 states, 28 tribes and 5 U.S. territories.
The assistance we provide includes training institutes and seminars, video and audio conference training sessions, the coordination of a mentor program (peer-to-peer site and phone visits), specialized technical assistance (children of battered women, rural advocacy services, non-Native programs working with Native American communities, public awareness, tracking and monitoring systems), site visits, and domestic violence training manuals, books, and resources. Read More »
