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Address:
P.O. Box 1371
Portland, ME 04104
Email:
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About Our Services
Crisis and Support Line (1-800-313-9900)
We provide a confidential 24-hour Crisis and Support Line to victims and survivors of sexual assault, their family and friends, and anyone affected by sexual violence. Volunteer advocates staff the Crisis and Support Line and provide support, advocacy, crisis intervention, and can accompany victims to the hospital, police stations, and the courts. These advocates have completed a 42-hour comprehensive course that includes training on crisis intervention, long-term impacts, and the medical and legal systems
Support Groups
We provide support groups free of charge to community members. We offer a support group for male sexual assault survivors and two groups for females - one for incest survivors and the other for non-incest sexual assault survivors. We have a psycho-educational drop-in female support group that meets every Monday 11 am to 1 pm. Please call 1-800-313-9900 for more information.
School-based Education (middle school, high school/college)
- Sexual Assault occurs on a continuum with bullying and teasing at the beginning of the spectrum, sexual harassment towards the middle and sexual assault at the far end. Our educational programming relies on this continuum to provide information to different age groups.
- Our programs are age-appropriate and grounded in recent research on the issue of sexual violence in our culture.
- All of our programs inform students on the importance of getting support, if they are or have been the victim of any type of sexual violence.
- We provide programs from 5th grade through the college level.
Middle School: (Grades 5-8)
These programs explore the foundations of sexual violence and students' relationships with others. Depending on the age of the audience, these programs address bullying and teasing, gender stereotypes, sexual harassment and our culture's role in creating gender boxes and the psychological and physical repercussions of "breaking out of the box" (i.e., name-calling, hitting, etc.) This reinforces the message that it's important to be yourself, and it's equally important to let others be true to themselves. The program also explores differences between flirting and sexual harassment and underscores the concept that the person on the receiving end of words and actions is the one who defines sexual harassment.
High School & College:
These programs focus on dating violence and sexual assault. Sexual assault is defined by utilizing interactive teaching exercises. Although most students recognize that the stereotypical attack by a stranger with a weapon is sexual assault, few are familiar with Maine consent laws. The purpose of this program is to identify and dispel myths about sexual violence, and to offer factual information in place of those myths. It is our hope that students who are armed with information will have a greater chance of not being victimized and not becoming offenders. We complete the program with a discussion of victim-blaming, and encourage the students to broaden their views about sexual assault so that our society will be more sensitive to all survivors.
SART (Sexual Assault Response Team)
To ensure a compassionate, unified, and informed response to sexual assault, we bring together interdisciplinary teams consisting of law enforcement, health care providers, advocates, and prosecutors. By working as a county team, we are joining SARTs across the state and country to improve the system's response to victims of sexual assault. We currently have a SARTs in Cumberland and York counties. Would you or your agency be interested in joining our team? Click here to email us.
Community Training & Speaking
We provide municipalities with collaborative training programs to first-responders. Programs are also tailored to the specific needs of civic groups, social service providers, health care providers, and local businesses. Call us or email us to request a speaker at your next function (i.e. sexual harassment information, sexual assault information, etc.)
Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE)
SAFE is a comprehensive program for trained health care providers to perform forensic evidence collection and documentation of sexual assault cases. We assist health care providers in the creation and implementation of this program.
Sex Offender Notification Panel
SARSSM participates on a panel consisting of law enforcement, advocates, and psychologists, which provides education and information to communities experiencing sex offender notification.
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