Free, Confidential Sexual Assault and Violence Support Services

New York State Hotline for Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence

  • 24 hours, free and confidential, connects you with trained victims advocates. You can speak over the phone or via text. These people can provide crisis counseling and refer them to other services in the state.
  • Call 1-800-942-6906, Text 844-997-2121

This is what the text looks like:

ALBANY COUNTY CRIME VICTIM AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE CENTER

  • Call 518-447-7716, available 24 hours
  • Provides free counseling, case management, and court advocates. All counseling is confidential and you do not have to make a report in order to speak with a counselor, even about legal options.
  • When you first call you are connected with a telephone operator who will take your first name and phone number This information is then passed on to a sexual violence counselor who will give you a call back.
  • You will then receive a call back from a counselor (the call back took about 15 minutes for me). They are able to provide counseling for both victims or secondary victims (someone who was not the direct victim, or a person who knew the perpetrator).
  • More information: https://www.albanycounty.com/departments/crime-victim-and-sexual-violence-center

RAINN

  • National Sexual Assault Hotline: Connect online with someone via online.rainn.org or call 800-656-4673
  • More information here: https://www.rainn.org/
  • You will be connected with a specialist who is trained to offer resources and referrals to connect survivors with more support in their immediate area. They can offer confidential immediate support and referrals to mental health support, local sexual assault services, and legal or medical needs. There is also a separate youth help room available for young survivors seeking assistance or support.  
  • They do not ask for any information including your name, age, or where you live unless you are willing to share this information The chat remains confidential.

http://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/cybertipline

  • The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) runs a 24-hour Cyber Tipline. NCMEC centers their work around preventing child abductions, recovering missing children and providing services to combat child sexual exploitation. Cyber Tipline
  • You can make a report about a specific person via the internet

Crisis Text Line

  • Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7, high-quality text-based mental health support and crisis intervention by empowering a community of trained volunteers to support people in their moments of need.
  • They help anyone who is in crisis with issues like suicide, self-harm, sexual assault, depression, eating disorders, loneliness, and/or anxiety among others.
  • Reach out at: https://www.crisistextline.org 
  • They are also available on Facebook messenger: https://www.facebook.com/crisistextline

National Center for Victims of Crime

Rae Gonzalez- Sexual Assault Survivior Advocate and Mediator

  • Volunteer and full time advocate for 3+ years at SAFE - a nonprofit based in Austin Texas fighting to end sexual assault and exploitation, child abuse, and domestic abuse
  • Available to contact via 518-925-1834
  • Message from Rae:

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

  • Allows you to make a specific report about someone on the internet
  • The CyberTipline on the NCMEC provides an online mechanism for members of the public and electronic service providers (ESPs) to report incidents of suspected child sexual exploitation including: online enticement of children for sexual acts, extra-familial child sexual molestation, child pornography, child sex tourism, child sex trafficking, unsolicited obscene materials sent to children, misleading domain names,  misleading words or digital images on the internet.
  • The tipline runs 24 hours
  • CyberTipline: https://report.cybertip.org/ 
  • More information: https://www.missingkids.org/theissues/csam#overview 

JDoe

  • 1. Identify repeat offenders. Cases with multiple plaintiffs are both less harrowing for survivors and more likely to win in court. The current system more often than not fails to find mutual survivors.
  • 2. Provide direct access to civil lawyers and prosecutors, circumventing authorities who may not have survivors' best interests in mind. It is our goal that making the reporting process simpler and safer will enable more survivors and witnesses to act within the statute of limitations of their state.
  • 3. Ensure survivors and witnesses complete control over their data. Nothing will be sent to anyone, ever, until a user specifically requests it. Our encryption algorithms guarantee your privacy. Even if compelled to do so by a warrant, JDoe would be unable to read your data and hand it over.

More Resources in the Albany area provided by the Albany County Crime and Sexual Violence Center