Our rural helpline services allow sexual violence survivors, their family and friends, and professionals 24-hour access to connection, information, and supportive services. Helpline services, more than any other service, give sexual violence survivors unencumbered access to trauma informed support in rural communities. The resources below will help your programs structure helpline services for survivors of sexual violence.
Support, Connection, Healing: Rural Helplines Today, Resource Sharing Project
Through our 24-hour helplines, advocacy programs provide a powerful resource for our community. Across the country, advocacy programs assist survivors of sexual violence and their friends and family in navigating healing, learning about resources, and celebrating strengths and accomplishments -- no matter the time of day. Rural helplines in particular can offer support and connection to our communities, when and where people need it most. This publication addresses marketing your rural helpline services, welcoming sexual violence survivors to the line, helpline advocacy skills, confidentiality on the line, and much more.
Crisis and Support Line Tip Sheet, Resource Sharing Project
This guide was inspired by real rural programs around the country and is meant to be used while you answer the crisis and support line. One side provides helpful responses to use while you are supporting sexual assault survivors on your rural crisis and support line. The other side is for after you have completed the call. We have provided grounding techniques for you to use if you have a difficult or triggering call.
Tips for Active Listening, Resource Sharing Project
This tip sheet provides information about the four main skills involved in active listening: reflecting, encouraging, summarizing, and exploring, along with examples.
Facilitator’s Guide: Conversations on Rural Helpline Services, Resource Sharing Project
This guide was adapted from the “Rural Sexual Assault Crisis and Support Line Roundtable” hosted in Phoenix, AZ in June 2018. This roundtable brought together 20 rural advocates and directors from across the country to discuss strong helpline services in rural communities. This guide can be used to facilitate conversations with staff at your own rural program.
Digital Services Toolkit, Safety Net
“Digital services” means using tech-based tools like online chat, text messaging, and video calls to provide services to survivors. Many victim service programs are considering or have adopted these to supplement in-person and hotline support services. But there’s more to it than buying the right software. Programs must first invest time and energy to assess their readiness to provide digital services, and develop strong policies and procedures that will ensure high quality services that are centered in victim safety and privacy. These resources are written for domestic violence programs, sexual assault programs, and victim service agencies that offer support for survivors.
Webinar Recordings:
Rural Helplines: Strengthening Services for Sexual Violence Survivors
Through our 24-hour helplines advocacy programs are able to accomplish so much for our rural communities. We provide a powerful outlet for survivors of sexual violence, their friends and family, and professionals to ask questions, learn about resources, navigate healing, and break their silence. Our helplines offer our community support when people need it most and on their own timelines. This webinar focuses on the skills necessary to provide strong helpline services and how to welcome sexual violence survivors to our helplines, through the lens of rural programs. Join Leah Green from the Resource Sharing Project to learn how to create strong helpline support for sexual violence survivors in rural communities.