Domestic Violence Resources

Domestic Violence Services Network, Inc. (DVSN)

Trained volunteer advocates who provide crisis intervention, active listening, advocacy, emotional support, information, options, and referral services to victims of domestic violence staff DVSN's Helpline. Advocates seek to foster empowerment and an ability to make informed choices, helping clients overcome isolation, and assisting with safety planning. Conversations with advocates are free and confidential. DVSN works in close collaboration with public safety departments throughout the area.

Court Advocates help clients while at court, answer clients' questions about procedures and court personnel, decipher unfamiliar and seemingly mystifying behaviors, and offer non-judgmental support and encouragement. Risk assessment, safety planning, and referrals to viable, effective, and appropriate resources are crucial to the health and well-being of our clients and their families during this period of heightened risk.

Helpline: 888-399-6111 Toll-free and Confidential
Office: 978-318-3421
Domestic Violence Services Network, Inc. (DVSN) Website

SafeLink

The Massachusetts statewide 24-hour toll-free domestic violence hotline is operated by Casa Myrna. SafeLink hotline advocates are multilingual and have access to a translation service that can provide translation in more than 130 languages. All calls to SafeLink are free, confidential, and anonymous. Each call is answered by a trained advocate who provides non-judgmental support, assistance with safety planning, and information on appropriate resources. SafeLink's state-of-the-art technology allows the advocate answering your call to keep you on the line while you are connected to a shelter program in your area. This allows callers who are in danger to get help with a single call, rather than having to make numerous calls to different shelter programs across the state. It is okay to call SafeLink if you just need to talk about your situation - you do not need to be looking for shelter space.

Hotline: 877-785-2020
Hearing-Impaired/TTY: 877-521-2601
Office Phone: 617-521-0100
Casa Myrna Website

National Domestic Violence Hotline

For support outside of Massachusetts:

For nearly 20 years, the National Domestic Violence Hotline has been the vital link to safety for women, men, children, and families affected by domestic violence. With the help of our dedicated advocates and staff, we respond to calls 24/7, 365 days a year.

We provide confidential, one-on-one support to each caller and chatter, offering crisis intervention, options for next steps, and direct connection to sources for immediate safety. Our database holds over 5,000 agencies and resources in communities all across the country. Bilingual advocates are on hand to speak with callers, and our Language Line offers translations in 170+ different languages.

Hotline: 800-799-SAFE (7233)
TTY Phone: 800-787-3224
National Domestic Violence Hotline Website

Eliot Center Support Group for Women

Our goal is to feel less alone, to make sense of frightening and confusing experiences of verbal, emotional, and/or physical abuse, and to develop strategies for self-care, safety, sanity, and empowerment. This group, led by a licensed psychotherapist, will meet once a week for 10 weeks. Together we will share our stories in a confidential environment. Most insurance plans are accepted including Mass Health and Tri-Care.

For more information call: 978-369-1113

RESPOND Inc.

RESPOND provides emergency shelter and a range of support services to thousands of survivors of domestic violence each year including adults, children and teens regardless of race, religion, gender or other characteristic. RESPOND staff work with survivors of domestic violence to address their immediate and long-term needs, providing emotional support, counseling, intensive advocacy, information, and referrals. Through RESPOND's programs, individuals and families in crisis develop the concrete tools necessary to regain control of their own lives- from parenting skills and housing search to literacy skills, and the hands-on experience of advocating for themselves. Services are free, confidential, and currently offered in multiple languages. RESPOND's Community Services are available to all victims and survivors of domestic violence.

Hotline: 617-623-5900;
Community Service Center Phone: 617-625-5996
RESPOND website

REACH Beyond Domestic Violence

If you are concerned about your relationship or have concerns about a friend or family member, you can call REACH's 24-hour hotline for support. Hotline staff is trained to provide supportive and confidential services in English and Spanish. Additionally, REACH provides shelter and safe homes to survivors and their children who have been traumatized by domestic violence.

REACH also offers free, community-based supportive services, including support groups, legal and community advocacy, and child and adolescent therapy.

The organization's name, REACH (Refuge, Education, Advocacy, Change), reflects its commitment to providing individuals and communities with the resources and tools necessary to heal from abuse and prevent future violence.

Hotline: 800-899-4000
Office: 781-891-0724
Reach Beyond Website

Journey to Safety

Journey to Safety (JTS) is the domestic abuse program of Jewish Family and Children's Service. We offer support and assistance to all survivors of domestic abuse who contact us, regardless of a person's religion, beliefs, culture, background, or country of origin. We also provide culturally competent and religiously-sensitive services specifically for Jewish abuse survivors in addition to services in English and in Russian. All our services are free and confidential.

Phone:781-647-JFCS (5327)
Jewish Family & Children's Services Website

Project "We Can Talk About It"

Project "We Can Talk About It" is a service of the Children's Charter division of the Key Program, Inc. It offers specialized and sensitive mental health services to children and adults who have experienced or witnessed domestic violence in their homes. The project is committed to providing children and their caregivers with safe and supportive interventions of the highest quality by which they can find their voices and begin a healing process. The project's multidisciplinary staff includes social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, a team advocate, and advanced social work and psychology interns.

Phone Number: 781-894-4307
Key Program Inc website

DOVE, Inc.

DOVE is committed to partnering with diverse communities, families, and individuals impacted by domestic violence. At DOVE (Domestic Violence Ended), we believe that all people have the right to live without fear of abuse. We promote hope, healing, safety, and social change by providing a broad range of preventive and responsive services.

Hotline: 617-471-1234 or 888-314-DOVE (3683)
Community Advocacy and Prevention Services: 617-770-4065
Dove Domestic Violence Ended Website

Hagar's Sisters

Vision Statement ~ Ending the cycle of domestic abuse through the transforming power of God.

Mission Statement ~ Motivated by God's lovingkindness, the mission of Hagar's Sisters is to cultivate the emotional and spiritual healing of individuals and families impacted by intimate partner abuse through education, empowerment, and a compassionate community.

Impact Statement ~ Christian women in Boston and beyond affected by intimate partner abuse are empowered to establish a safe and spiritually vibrant life within the context of continuing and lasting healing.

Hagar's Sisters Website

Sexual Assault & Trauma

Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC)

Free, confidential services are provided to sexual assault survivors, their friends and families, and professionals ages 12 and older. Hotline Counselors can help you understand your options, and get you access to services at BARCC and in your community. Medical Advocates provide in-person, compassionate, and knowledgeable support to survivors and they're merged in hospital emergency departments 24 hours a day; call the Hotline to get Medical Advocacy services. Legal Advocates can help you understand your options when it comes to police, the court system, ways to stay safe, school policies, employer's policies, your rights as an immigrant, and more; they can accompany you to the police station or court and can refer you to a lawyer. Individual counseling for survivors, individual counseling for friends and family of survivors, couple counseling for survivors and their partners, family counseling for families impacted by a sexual assault, counseling groups for survivors and their families, and support groups are also offered. Case Managers can help survivors with housing, financial questions and challenges, Victim Compensation, employment, and disability matters, connect you with other agencies and resources, go with you to appointments at other agencies, and help you fill out paperwork. BARCC also offers community education and professional training. BARCC has offices in both Cambridge and Boston.

Hotline: 800-841-8371
Office: 617-492-8306
Boston Area Rape Crisis Center Website

Center for Hope & Healing

The Center for Hope and Healing is one of the 3 independent rape crisis centers in the state of Massachusetts. For the last 40 years, we have advocated and dedicated to the healing and empowerment of survivors of sexual violence. We support individual survivors by creating a safe environment, utilizing trauma-informed, empowering approaches, and offering hope and support to engage in the healing process. We advocate for individuals and significant others affected by sexual violence to start their own process.

Hotline: 800-542-5212
Office: 978-452-7721
The Center for Hope and Healing Website

Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery (CVPR)

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

The Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery (CVPR) provides trauma-informed services. CVPR creates an atmosphere that is respectful of survivors' need for safety, acceptance, and respect. It emphasizes survivors' strengths, highlighting adaptations over symptoms, and resilience over pathology. Trauma-informed services strive to maximize a survivor's choices and control over his/her recovery.
Safe Transitions: Domestic Violence Intervention Program
Established in 1994, the Safe Transitions Program supports individuals experiencing threatening, coercive, and abusive relationships.
Rape Crisis Intervention Program
Founded in 1974, the Rape Crisis Intervention Program was one of the first hospital-based rape crisis centers in the country. In 1997, this program became part of the newly formed CVPR. We provide services for survivors of sexual assault, their families, and their friends.
Community Violence Intervention Program
CVPR offers a range of counseling and advocacy services for those who have been a victim of or a witness to community violence, including those who have experienced the loss of a loved one due to homicide.

Hotline: 617-667-4700 Number 33891
Office: 617-667-8141
Beth Isreal Lahey Health Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery Page

Passageway at Brigham and Women's Hospital

Brigham and Women's Passageway program works to improve the health, well-being, and safety of those experiencing abuse from an intimate partner.

Services are flexible and designed to create safe access for individuals. A person does not need to leave a relationship to use our services. We support a person's individual choices and rights. All services are free, voluntary, and confidential.

Phone: 617-732-8753
Passageway at Brigham and Women's Hospital Passageway Page

Voices Against Violence

Voices' mission is to end sexual and domestic violence. Voices staff members work to empower victims and survivors to help themselves and their children. Program Advocates work in partnership with individuals and families to ensure their safety, create stable home environments, gain independence, and develop personal and economic self-sufficiency. Voices is also a social change organization, working toward the elimination of violence on a societal level through community education, primary prevention, and increased public awareness and action. Voices also work in close collaboration with public safety and criminal justice professionals throughout the region.

Hotline: 800-593-1125
South Middlesex Opportunity Council Voices Against Violence Page

Violence Recovery Program (VRP) at Fenway Health

The Violence Recovery Program (VRP) at Fenway Health was founded in 1986 and was formerly known as the "Victim Recovery Program." The VRP provides counseling, support groups, advocacy, and referral services to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) victims of biased crime, domestic violence, sexual assault, and police misconduct.

Phone: 617-927-6250
Fenway Health Violence Recovery Program Page

Shelters & Economic Support

Alternative House

The mission of Alternative House is to facilitate the creation of a society in which violence will no longer exist. As a means to this end, we offer shelter, support, options, counseling, and legal advocacy for all victims of domestic violence (and their children) who seek our help. We are committed to the empowerment of women toward self-sufficiency. We do not discriminate against any race, class, culture, age group, or sexual orientation.

Hotline: 888-291-6228
Office: 978-937-5777
Alternative House Page

Transition House

Transition House is Cambridge's domestic violence agency, providing emergency shelter, transitional and supported housing and youth prevention education to our community since 1975. Transition House created the first emergency shelter on the East Coast for women and children escaping domestic violence. The organization has been an important community resource ever since. Today, our core services focus on safe emergency and long-term housing to facilitate recovery from trauma along with holistic support services for adults, youth and children centered on violence prevention and skill building for lifelong independence.

Crisis Line: 617-661-7203
Office: 617-868-1650
Transition House Website

Community Teamwork Inc.

As a Community Action Agency, a Regional Housing Agency, and a Community Development Corporation, Community Teamwork helps nearly 50,000 individuals from 63 cities and towns in northeastern Massachusetts gain greater economic independence. Community Teamwork drives change with vital services and key collaborations, to create housing, education, and economic opportunities that reduce poverty and strengthen communities.

Phone: 978-459-0551
Community Teamwork Inc. Website

Rosie's Place

Founded in 1974, Rosie's Place is the first drop-in center and emergency housing for women in the United States. In addition to providing for the immediate needs of food, shelter, and clothing, Rosie's Place is steadfast in its commitment to creating permanent solutions through advocacy, housing, education, healthcare, and more. We work to find individualized solutions, treating each woman with the utmost respect and offering unconditional love and support. By building trusting relationships with our guests, we help them realize their dreams.

Phone: 617-442-9322
Rosie's Place Website

Elizabeth Stone House Building Foundations for Change

The mission of the Elizabeth Stone House is to serve homeless families and individuals in a goal-oriented, outcome-driven service environment by resolving the issues that made them homeless - domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental illness- so that they can attain and maintain permanent housing, personal safety, and economic stability.

Phone: 617-427-9801
Stone House Website

Finex House

Finex House is a shelter for battered women and their children; especially those who have disabilities and/or women who are trafficked. We are wheelchair accessible with two concrete ramps and an internal lift. Finex House also has a light-coded signal system for deaf, battered women and their children. Finex House is an equal opportunity service provider and therefore any woman who has been abused is strongly encouraged to call for services.

Three formerly abused women incorporated Finex House in 1983. Our motto is, "I Belong to No One." Our mission is to provide shelter and services for all battered women, especially those who have dropped through the cracks of existing service providers. Accordingly, Finex House provides emergency shelter and a comprehensive array of services for the most vulnerable of battered women.

Hotline: 617-288-1054
Phone: 617-436-0553
Finex House Website

HarborCOV

Founded in 1998, HarborCOV provides free safety and support services, along with housing and economic opportunities that promote long-term stability for people affected by violence and abuse. HarborCOV specializes in serving survivors who face additional barriers, such as language, culture and economic, by working to create connections to the supports survivors need to rebuild their lives through a continuum of options. With a commitment to social and economic justice, HarborCOV takes a comprehensive approach to addressing violence within the context of family, culture and community.

Hotline: 617-884-9909
Office: 617-884-9799
HarborCOV Website

Renewal House

A Program of the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry.

Renewal House is a domestic violence shelter for individuals and families who are fleeing violence or abuse. Since 1980, Renewal House has provided temporary emergency shelter and advocacy services to more than 1,000 individuals and families escaping domestic violence. Renewal House was one of the first domestic violence shelters in the state to provide shelter for male survivors as well as female, and is sought out by other agencies for its expertise in attending to the spiritual needs of survivors. Renewal House works closely with other programs that serve the LGBTQ communities, as well as those that serve elders and individuals with disabilities to provide the best support we can to these under-served populations.

Hotline: 617-566-6881
Office: 617-277-4194
Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry Website

Batterer Intervention Programs

Difference Between Anger Management & Certified Batterer Intervention Programs

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health's concise chart illustrates the highly significant differences between anger management programs and state-certified batterer intervention programs. The following note is given prior to the chart: "Batterer intervention is more than anger management. Batterer intervention programs address anger but their primary focus is on helping people build skills for making non-violent choices. These programs also provide contact with partners [if they consent to it], assess substance abuse and mental health status, and make referrals." The chart explains differing intervention emphases in anger management and batterer intervention programs, as well as differences in state oversight between them.

Emerge

Founded in 1977, Emerge was the first abuser education program in the United States. Since its creation, Emerge has been a national leader in working to end violence in intimate relationships. In working toward this goal, Emerge seeks to educate individual abusers, prevent young people from learning to accept violence in their relationships, improve institutional responses to domestic violence, and increase public awareness about the causes and solutions to partner violence. With the development of parenting education groups for fathers, Emerge has expanded its mission to include a goal of helping men to become more responsible parents. Emerge teaches that domestic violence is a learned behavior, not a disease or a sickness. Emerge supports grassroots, institutional and cultural efforts to stop partner violence, sexual assault, and child abuse. Emerge recognizes that other oppressive life circumstances such as racism, poverty, and homophobia create a climate that contributes to partner violence.

Phone: 617-547-9879
Emerge Website

RESPECT Batterer Intervention Program of New Hope, Inc.

RESPECT is an intervention program for individuals who abuse their partners. The goal is to help individuals end their violence by holding them accountable for their own behavior. Educational methods and techniques are used during weekly group sessions. Training and consultation are available to community agencies, law enforcement, and social agencies. The program is certified by the MA Department of Public Health.

RESPECT Groups are held in Attleboro, Franklin, Taunton, and Worcester
Phone: 877-222-0083
newhope RESPECT: Intimate Partner Abuse Education (IPAE) Page

Spectrum Health Systems, Inc. P.A.V.E.

Spectrum's Prevention of Abuse and Violence through Education (P.A.V.E.) program is a 40-week psycho-educational program designed for men who batter their partners. The program helps clients recognize violent and controlling behaviors, take responsibility for their actions, and learn non-violent ways to resolve conflict with others. Clients are required to attend forty 2-hour group sessions. Intervention may also require referrals to develop a sober and drug free lifestyle, obtain employment training or acquire parenting skills.

Group Site(s): Fitchburg, Framingham, Milford, Southbridge, Westborough, and Worcester
Phone: 800-464-9555, ext. 1156
Spectrum Health System Website

Additional Resources

Minuteman Senior Services

Minuteman Senior Services provides in-depth information on elder abuse and what one can do to report an incident. If you have reason to believe you or someone you know, age 60 or older, is being abused, neglected, or exploited, Report It!

Phone: 888-222-6171 (toll free) or 781-272-7177
TTY: 781-275-1285
Minuteman Senior Services Website

Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS)

Our mission is to improve the lives of Portuguese-speaking individuals and families from Massachusetts and help them become contributing, active participants in American society while maintaining a strong ethnic identity and a sense of community. MAPS works with and for the Brazilian, Cape Verdean, Portuguese, and other Portuguese-speaking communities to increase access and remove barriers to health, education, and social services through direct services, advocacy, leadership, and community development.

Phone: 617-864-7600
Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) Website

Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK)

ATASK primarily serves Asian families and individuals in Massachusetts and New England who suffer from or are at risk of suffering from domestic violence. Our clients include a range of Asian ethnic populations. ATASK embraces and represents all ages, cultures, abilities, and sexual preferences. We serve immigrants and refugees from East Asian, South, and Southeast Asian.

Phone: 617-338-2355
Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK)

Massachusetts Abuse Reporting Numbers

Disabled Persons Protection Commission

Ages 18 to 59
(24 hours / 7 days a week)
Phone: 800-426-9009 or 888-822-0350 TTY

Executive Office of Elder Affairs

Ages 60 and over
(24 hours / 7 days a week)
Phone: 800-922-2275

Department of Public Health

All Ages residing in Long Term Care Facilities
Phone: 800-462-5540

Department of Children and Families

Birth to age 17
(24 hours / 7 days a week)
Phone: 800-792-5200

Teens

Tech Savvy Teens

The teen section of NDVH (National Domestic Violence Hotline) has a large collection of resources that you can read and download.

love is Respect

love is respect's mission is to engage, educate and empower young people to prevent and end abusive relationships. love is respect website strives to be a safe, inclusive space for young people to access information and get help in an environment that is designed specifically for them. Our website provides comprehensive education on healthy, unhealthy, and abusive dating relationships and behaviors. Highly-trained peer advocates offer support, information, and advocacy to young people who have questions or concerns about their dating relationships. We also provide information and support to concerned friends and family members, teachers, counselors, service providers, and members of law enforcement. Free and confidential phone, live chat, and texting services are available 24/7/365.

Helpline: 866-331-9474
Text loveis to 22522
love is respect website

Scarleteen

Scarleteen is an independent, grassroots sexuality education and support organization and website. Packed with straightforward information about having a healthy relationship, identifying abuse, and more. In addition to information, there are interactive components, referrals, and volunteer opportunities.
Scarleteen Website