The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center Leadership Institute at the #NoDAPL encampment in North Dakota. Photo by NIWRC
The Strong Hearts Native Helpline, the first crisis line for Native survivors of domestic and sexual violence, is set to launch on January 4, 2017. The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center is starting the crisis line in partnership with the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The Department of Health and Human Services is providing support for the initiative, the White House announced on Friday. "The new helpline will provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services by and for Native women and will assist AI/AN survivors of domestic and sexual violence with safety planning, emotional support, and referrals to local resources," the White House said as the first-ever meeting of the North American Working Group on Violence Against Indigenous Women & Girls opened in the nation's capital. The Strong Hearts Native Helpline will initially be housed in Austin, Texas, where the National Domestic Violence Hotline is based. It's expected that a more permanent office will be established in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "StrongHearts Native Helpline will provide confidential, cost free crisis intervention information, safety planning, culturally appropriate support, and referral services to Native victims of domestic violence calling its toll-free number," the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center said in a hiring announcement. White House Fact Sheet:
North American Working Group on Violence against Indigenous Women and Girls, New Commitments & Accomplishments from the Obama Administration (October 14, 2016)
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