All services provided by the Portland Women's Crisis Line are free and confidential.

CRISIS LINE PROGRAM

The Portland Women's Crisis Line Program operates a 24-hour hotline for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault as well as non-offending family members, friends, and community partners. Crisis Line Specialists and volunteer advocates are available to provide crisis intervention, safety planning, information and referral, emergency housing resources, and local and long distance danger to safety transportation assistance. Using a database of over 1,400 local and statewide resources, Crisis Line Specialists are available to link callers the resource they need.

The primary goal of each advocate is to offer non-judgemental support to a caller, offer options, and link the caller to the options that will work best. Language line services allow advocates to speak to any caller, regardless of language.

The Crisis Line Program also coordinates a number of support groups. Current offerings include groups for sexual assault survivors and adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Please contact the crisis line for more information.

SEXUAL ASSAULT PROGRAM

The PWCL Sexual Assault Program is available 24-hours a day to meet survivors of sexual assault in-person to receive medical care and/or forensic exams at the hospital or another medical facility. Advocates offer resources and referrals regarding counseling options, the legal process, medical follow up, and support groups. Additionally we offer support through the reporting process and can accompany survivors to any court hearings. At PWCL we work from an empowerment model. This means that we support survivors in whatever choices are right for them. We support survivors whether or not they choose to report the sexual assault.

In partnership with Oregon Health and Science University Behavioral Health Clinic, we offer free counseling services for non-reporting survivors of sexual assault who need immediate trauma counseling. We also have a partnership through our participation on the Multnomah County Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) with the Psychological Service Center to provide immediate crisis counseling for reporting survivors of sexual assault. Please call the crisis line for more information regarding either of these services.

The Sexual Assault Program of PWCL offers sexual assault prevention and education presentations, trainings, discussions, speaking engagements, panel discussions and conducts various specific outreach projects. If your organization would like a free training for your group, please call!

SEX WORKER OUTREACH PROJECT

Our goal is to provide direct services to individuals who are working in the sex industry and to provide education to individuals and communities impacted by the sex industry. We recognize sex work as a form of labor and that there are a myriad of factors that may lead a person into the sex industry, and our services strive to support sex workers to be safe and healthy while respecting their rights and choices in all areas of their work.

We use terms like Sex Work, Commercial Sex Industry, Prostitution, Survival Sex to mean exchanging sex for need or money. This occurs in many situations, including prostitution, pornography, stripping, escort services, lingerie modeling, massage parlors, mail-order bride services, trafficking and any other venue in which sex is exchanged or traded for money or survival needs.

• We recognize each individual's experiences in the sex industry are different. It is each individuals' right to determine their own interpretation of their experiences and the goals, aspirations and outcome of their experiences in working with our program.
• The individual determines which services are best for them with the intention of minimizing the risks they face in the sex industry.
• We believe in each individual's right to be treated with respect and dignity.
• We respect the individual's choice of how to narrate and describe their experiences, beliefs and politics. We don't attempt to reframe a person's belief structure, verbiage or political views to meet a social change goal.
• We believe that individuals who are involved in or impacted by the sex industry are the experts and best understand the issues surrounding the sex industry.
• We believe it is essential for resources to be available to individuals impacted by the sex industry without having to change or be judged by their choices.

For more information about these services or to get involved in the Sex Workers Outreach Coalition (SWOC), please contact crystal@pwcl.org.