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Where sexual violence survivors can find strength and give support
Explore online and offline sources of community for survivors of sexual violence.
Each survivor’s experience with sexual violence is unique, but there’s common ground on the road to recovery. All must shape a path to healing — something best accomplished with the help of support networks. Below we explore several means of finding and offering support to survivors throughout their recovery journey.
Online sources of support
Online resources open to survivors of sexual violence come in many forms. With various resource options, survivors can find those that serve their unique virtual support needs for recovery. Online resources shared by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center include:
- Chat rooms.
- Forums.
- General resources.
- Self-help.
These options extend to all types of sexual violence. They also apply to all places experiencing the crime, including online sexual abuse. The online networks range in the formality of communication they offer. All survivors can find a place in the networks nationwide, regardless of when their experience with sexual violence occurred or if they reported the crimes to the police. If searching for localized resources, survivors can find anti-sexual violence coalitions in every state. The range of online resources allows survivors to reach fellow survivors nearby and across the country digitally.
Communities for offline connections
With increasingly digitalized lives, some prefer offline means of forming connections. Community-based support resources with in-person and online options offer a range of services. The following options apply to survivors of various ages:
- Group counseling.
- Trauma-informed therapies.
- Healing arts and retreats.
- Legal services and more.
Many resource centers offer these services in combination. The combined services can fuel relief across many areas of life affected by the experience of sexual violence. In this sense, survivors can experience comprehensive recovery.
Some survivors may seek to build communities by bringing their stories as survivors to the public. The NSVRC covers ways to become an advocate for survivors or an activist. The center also offers guidance for speaking about sexual violence when building a public profile. One option for educating the public as a survivor is to join the Speakers Bureau of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. Taking on these roles, among others, can foster connections among various communities of survivors. It can also allow survivors to unite in working to end sexual violence.
Finding those most like you
Recovery networks open to all types of survivors can be rich in diverse experiences. Yet comfort for survivors can also come from connecting with those from similar walks of life. The value of these connections can be especially true for those from groups disproportionately affected by crimes of sexual violence. The NSVRC outlines online support networks that cater to specific populations, including:
- Culturally specific groups.
- Military service members and veterans.
- Male survivors.
- Peers.
- Partners of sexual abuse survivors, among others.
The center also highlights resources that strive to address inequities in health care. These resources include those that support the mental and physical health of people of color. With these community options, survivors searching for others with life experiences most like their own can find such sources of meaningful connection.
Building a path to recovery as a loved one
When equipped with knowledge of sexual violence survivors’ needs, you, as a loved one, can play a crucial role in their recovery process. A survivor may come to you for help reporting to law enforcement or getting to a medical center for a forensic exam. They may even rely on your knowledge of what serves as sexual violence and consent to recognize when there has been a crime committed against them to report. Your presence can play an essential part in your loved one’s experience with healing. The value of being present applies to the immediate aftermath of sexual violence and the longer span of their recovery.
RAINN shares some tips for showing support to survivors throughout their recovery process:
- Avoid judgment. Some specific phrases can help the healing process. Yet others that suggest survivors’ recovery is taking too long can hurt.
- Check in periodically. Survivors need to know others believe their story and care about their well-being.
- Know your resources. You may not be able to manage survivors’ health. But you can know what sources to recommend for serving their needs. These sources include the National Sexual Assault Hotline, the National Human Trafficking Hotline and related resources available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Another key way to lessen the impact of sexual violence is to foster prevention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shares several ways all can contribute to preventing and reducing sexual violence. These ways include promoting social norms that protect against sexual violence, creating protective environments and more.