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Staff Access
Services for Specific Populations
Intimate Partner Abuse & Crime Victims
Sections:
Crime Victims
Sexual Assault/Rape
Sexual Exploitation/Human Trafficking/Prostitution
Domestic Violence/Intimate Partner Abuse
- Crime Victims
- MGH Victims of Violence Flow Sheet
- Victim Assistance Resource Sheet
-
MGH Violence Intervention Advocacy Program (VIAP)- website and brochure
- Victim and Witness Resources mass.gov
- Victim's Compensation
- See the state website: MA Victims of Violent Crime Compensation
- Victim's Compensation- PRESENTATION - For victims of violent crimes (PowerPoint) - October 2012; rev June 2018
Victim's Compensation EXPLAINED
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Detailed explanation of eligibility, reporting requirements, eligible expenses and appeal rights. – CRC Info Session, March, 2010; rev June 2018
- January 2014 changes: maximum benefit level is $50,000 for catastrophic injuries (double former limit). Former recipients may apply for increased benefits. Catastrophic injuries include:
- 3rd degree burn to face/hands (at least 5%)
- 2nd or 3rd degree burn to 25% of body (or more)
- Traumatic brain injury
- Severe motor/communication disturbance
- Loss of limb/amputation
- Spinal cord injury/paralysis
- Functional loss of sight and/or hearing
- Victim Compensation APPLICATION (10/18)
- Mothers Against Drunk Driving- MADD Victim Assistance - Coping Brochures, and guides to legal system
- Bereaved Survivors of Homicide Guide, VIAP
- Free Service Dogs for Marathon Bombing victims -"Pawsitively Strong". In future, this program may be opened to include all victims of violent crime in Massachusetts who have sustained a physical disability and who feel that they would benefit from an assistance dog.
- Related News Stories
- Massachusetts Cellphone Users Can Now Text 911 - MGH Community News, January 2019
- State Passes Red Flag Gun Law, allowing someone's gun to be confiscated if they pose a risk of harming themselves or someone else- MGH Community News, July 2018
- Sexual Assault/Rape
- MGH Victims of Violence Flow Sheet
- Victim Assistance Resource Sheet- for social service staff use until hire new VIAP advocate
- ED Policy/Procedure
- SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) Program
- Excerpt: "The patient is encouraged to participate in all decisions of care in the Emergency Department. Care should be tailored to the patient's specific requests and needs. The patient may decline any part of the protocol at any time."
- Note: There is NO legal requirement that providers report cases of sexual assault to the police. It is always the patient's decision whether or not to do so.
However, it is required to report to the state dept. of public safety, though this report is anonymous- it does not include any identifying information about the victim. Learn more about the Provider Sexual Crime Report (PSCR).
- Staffing- SANE RNs are not always available as they cover 6 hospitals. There is always a nurse on site in the ED who has taken MGH's sexual assault course (they are identified as SARN.)
- Community Resources
- Laws/Protections
- Related Articles:
- Sexual Exploitation/Human Trafficking/Prostitution
- MGH Victims of Violence Flow Sheet
- National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline (Polaris Project) available 24/7 at 1-888-373-7888 or via text at 233733. Web chat is also available 24/7. All platforms have Spanish-speaking capacity.
- My Life, My Choice - for adolescent girls trying to leave prostitution
- Kim's Project - primarily for adult women trying to leave prostitution
- Surviving Our Struggle- for male victims trying to leave prostitution
- Amirah- A safe house for sex trafficking victims that reopened in summer 2015
- Eva center- safe house and service center. Survivor led organization that provides a wide range of continuous and comprehensive services for women exploited through prostitution and sex trafficking.
- Ria House - offers women Back to Self groups, one-on-one therapy, clinical case management, empowerment groups and peer mentorship.
- Children of the Night- helps children (ages 11-17) forced into prostitution. Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-551-1300 or TTY: 1-818-908-4476. The hotline has Spanish-speaking capacity.
- Massachusetts' Safe Harbor Law fact sheet (note: written before passed; law signed in February 2012)
- increases penalties for traffickers
- allows for the "safe harbor" of sexually exploited children from prosecution for certain sex crimes: provide a way to remove victims of sexual abuse from the criminal justice and juvenile delinquency systems and provide them with specialized services; recognize exploited youth as victims rather than criminals or delinquents; reinforce that mandated reporters must file a report of suspected abuse and neglect (51A) on behalf of child victims of commercial sexual exploitation
Domestic Violence/Intimate Partner Abuse
- HAVEN
- www.janedoe.org
- www.futureswithoutviolence.org
- National Domestic Violence Hotline- available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233 or TTY 1-800-787-3224 and online chat available 24/7
- Spanish: same number as above. Available by phone from 1pm-7pm and online chat available 24/7
- New! 10 to 10 helpline a phone line for people who have used (or might use) control and violence towards their intimate partners. It’s free, anonymous, and confidential. 10 am to 10 pm seven days a week, 365 days a year. Open to anyone in Massachusetts of any gender. It is also a place where a family or friend of an abuser can call to get advice on how to respond to their loved one without being complicit in the abuse.
- The Network/la Red- Boston-based survivor-led organization with a mission to end partner abuse in LGBTQ+, poly, and SM communities. Hotline is available 24/7 at 617-742-4911, toll-free: 800-832-1901, or TTY: 617-227-4911. The hotline has Spanish-speaking capacity.
- Safelink- MA statewide domestic violence hotline. Available 24/7 at 877-785-2020 or TTY: 877-521-2601. The hotline has Spanish-speaking capacity.
- National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline- available 24/7 by phone at 1-866-331-9474 or TTY: 1-866-331-8453, online chat, and via text by texting LOVEIS to 22522.
- Domestic Violence Resource Packets
Packets to provide to Domestic Violence survivors that contain psychoeducational material on Domestic Violence and safety planning. The Goal of distributing this packet is to provide safe and educational material to guide social work’s assessment/intervention of this population. Please only have patients bring home the materials if it is safe for them to do so.
- DV Housing Protections
- HUD Expands Housing Protections for DV Survivors - October 2016
- (HOUSING Protections for Victims of Rape, Sexual Assault, Stalking and Domestic Violence- February 2013 announcement)
- Housing Protections Patient Handouts:
- Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) 2005 - Housing Protections
- Protection for Victims of Stalking, Abuse - Protective Orders now option if no established relationship
--MGH Community News, February 2010
- HOUSING Protections for DV Survivors Enacted - MGH Community News, February 2013
- Housing Protections Patient Handouts:
- MA Domestic Violence Law- Protected Employment Leave- MGH Community News, August 2014
- This law, effective immediately, among other provisions gives victims up to 15 days of leave from their jobs to help them recover or receive medical attention and counseling, creates new laws against strangulation and suffocation, toughens penalties for repeat abusers, mandates that anyone arrested for domestic abuse be held for six hours before being released on bail (to allow a “cooling off” period for an accused batterer to sober up and for the victim to find a safe place to stay), removes police reports on domestic violence incidents from public record and prohibits police from releasing information about such arrests.
- For more detail see: New Domestic Violence Leave Law in Massachusetts, McLane Employment Law Business Guide.
- Domestic Violence and Pets
See also: Public Benefits/Cash Assistance - TAFDC
DV in the News
rev 6/18
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