The Women's Information Service, a community organization aimed at helping victims of sexual assault and physical abuse, is preparing several events to commemorate and celebrate Sexual Assault Awareness month, in addition to its year-round support.
Students from the Tucker Foundation volunteer to work with WISE in a program that visits schools and educates students about sexual harassment, dating violence and healthy relationships.
Sexual Assault Awareness month
WISE's commemoration will begin with a Take Back The Night march to be held Saturday in White River Junction.
Take Back The Night is an annual worldwide event started in England in 1977 to protest night time violence against women, said Kristen Bing, a WISE employee.
"We're inviting the entire Upper Valley to come together for one hour, on one evening, in one place to carry candles and share in poetry and music to say no to violence," Judith Moran, AmeriCorps Victim Assistant. Moran works for WISE as part of the AmeriCorps project, which is a government-sponsored domestic public service project.
The march also serves as a celebration of survival by allowing survivors to share their own stories, according to a WISE press release. Artists will sing and speak before and after the march.
WISE has also organized a Clothesline Project which will be on display on the Green in Lebanon from April 16-20 to acknowledge Sexual Assault Awareness month, according to a WISE press release.
The Clothesline Project is a visual display of shirts decorated by survivors and friends of survivors to graphically illustrate the impact of violence on women and children, Moran said.
The goal of the Clothesline Project is to encourage a survivor to "break the silence" that has held him or her prisoner for so long. By hanging a shirt in the open, survivors can begin the process of healing, Moran said.
WISE will also hold shirt-decorating workshops so that community members can add their own personal testimonies to the collection. Additional workshops will be held on the Dartmouth campus during the weeks of April 8 and April 15, according to the press release.
A version of the Clothesline Project will come to Dartmouth April 22-26 in Collis Common Ground, said Coordinator for the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program Liza Veto.
A closer look
WISE was founded in 1971 as an agency to help women in the community who were preparing to return to the work force, Moran said.
But by the 1980s, WISE's purpose evolved into one that provided support to victims of sexual assault and sexual abuse, she said.
The agency's mission is now to empower victims of domestic and sexual violence to become safe and self-reliant through crisis intervention and support services, Moran said.
While the name implies an association with only the female sector, WISE also works with men.
"We encourage men to call our hotline and to come in for visits," Moran said.
"We do not work with batterers or perpetrators of sexual abuse, but we do work with male victims."
In the past year alone, WISE has helped more than 1,500 individuals through the wide variety of programs it offers, according to WISE's 1995 Annual Report.
The agency operates a 24-hour telephone hotline for crisis intervention. The hotline is staffed by volunteers who have completed at least 35 hours of training, Moran said.
Peer counselors are also available for anyone who wants to talk about things that are going on in his or her life, she said.
Individuals do not have to be assault victims to utilize WISE's counseling services.
"We serve as a clearinghouse of information," Moran said. "We often serve as a referral to other agencies, lawyers and therapists."
WISE provides moral support to those seeking temporary restraining orders against abusive partners.
A representative will attend the court hearings from the beginning of the process until a final restraining order is obtained later on, she said.
WISE volunteers also offer to counsel individuals who are examined for rape at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
"Most hospitals offer individuals a chance to speak over the phone, but few women really see speaking on the phone as an alternative." Moran said.
"Because there is actually someone there, the individual is given a real choice to speak about what has been going on in their life," she said.
Ongoing support groups are offered for women who are in difficult relationships, Moran said. All group sessions are confidential and free.
"We don't have support groups for men because there just aren't enough of them, and the women don't feel safe emotionally with the men there," Moran said.
WISE periodically offers special support groups for teens, she said. It also holds healing celebrations to help adult survivors deal with their abuse through the creative arts.
WISE's offices house books on a plethora of topics, including alcoholism and anorexia.
While WISE does not have a shelter, they can provide victims with a place to stay through a safe home program.
"We have a list of people who are willing to house victims for two to three nights," Moran said. "These volunteers are totally confidential, and no one, not even the police, knows who they are."
