The Statewide Hotline (formerly The Virginia Family Violence & Sexual Assault Hotline) has expanded access to trained advocates. Effective July 1, 2016, the Statewide Hotline is now operated 24/7/365 in-house through the Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance, Virginia’s leading voice on sexual and intimate partner violence.
The hotline is more than a phone service: chat and text are included, and the service is bilingual Spanish/English with ability to access multiple other languages. The Statewide Hotline provides direct access 24/7/365 to advocates with specialized training in sexual and domestic violence who provide lifesaving, trauma-informed services and practical tools for safety and healing. The scope of services for survivors are:
• Toll free, confidential, 24/7/365 hotline for victims, friends or family, allied professionals, and the
general public.
• Trained sexual and domestic violence advocates who provide crisis intervention, risk assessment and safety planning, support, and information and referrals to community-based services.
• Compassionate and culturally-appropriate services to all callers.
• Bi-lingual staff and access to language interpretation services.
• Answer calls on behalf of more than 24 sexual and domestic violence agencies during evening, weekend and holiday hours; trainings; staff meetings; and inclement weather.
• Specialized services to incarcerated individuals who are victims of sexual violence.
• Culturally appropriate and sensitive services to the LGTBQ community through the LGTBQ Partner Abuse and Sexual Assault Helpline and in collaboration with the Virginia Anti-Violence Project.
• Chat and cell phone text features.
“The current best practice for sexual assault and intimate partner violence advocacy is for advocates to be on-call and available to respond immediately. Each survivor reacts to sexual and intimate partner violence in their own way; the context of a survivors’ life may affect these reactions. It is important to respect and facilitate each person’s choices to communicate and report, whether the assault happened recently or years ago. Having multiple means of communicating, through text, phone, and chat helps provide more choices of how to communicate and to access more privacy if needed,” said Kristi VanAudenhove, Executive Director of the Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance.
Statewide Hotline
Call: 1.800.838.8238 Text: 804.793.9999
Chat (confidential instant messaging): www.vadata.org/chat
LGBTQ Partner Abuse & Sexual Assault Helpline
Call: 1.866.356.6998 Text: 804.793.9999
Chat (confidential instant messaging): www.vadata.org/chat
# # #
About the Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance
The Action Alliance has been Virginia’s leading voice on sexual and domestic violence for more than 30 years and enhances response and prevention efforts through training, public policy advocacy, public awareness programs, and technical assistance to professionals. www.vsdvalliance.org @VActionAlliance
1.800.838.8238 V/TTY
Free. Confidential. 24 hours a day.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the hotline. We're here to listen.
©2024 Resources are copyright of their respective organizations.
Information and resources may be posted on this site by any of the collaborating partners and do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of all partner agencies.