SEEKING SUPPORT?
The Alliance has compiled
a number of resources
available for survivors,
their friends and families,
and professionals
assisting survivors in
New York City.
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FAQ and Factsheets: Intervention
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Anger is usually a central feature of a survivor's response to trauma because it is a core component of the survival response in humans. Anger helps people cope with life's adversities by providing us with increased energy to persist in the face of obstacles. However, uncontrolled anger can lead to a continued sense of being out of control of oneself and can create multiple problems in the personal lives of those who suffer from PTSD.
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From the Series:
The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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Child abuse does not discriminate. It spans all racial, gender, socio-economic and demographic boundaries. While it may be more likely to be reported and thus reflected in greater numbers of cases involving lower income families, it is by no means a problem limited to members of one economic or racial group.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" General Information
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Twenty-nine percent of female rape victims in America were younger
than eleven when they were raped (National Center for Victims of Crime & Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, 1992).
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" General Information
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Child sexual abuse includes a wide range of sexual behaviors that take place between a child and an older person. These sexual behaviors are intended to erotically arouse the older person, generally without consideration for the reactions or choices of the child and without consideration for the effects of the behavior upon the child. Behaviors that are sexually abusive often involve bodily contact, such as in the case of sexual kissing, touching, fondling of genitals, and oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse. However, behaviors may be sexually abusive even if they don't involve contact, such as in the case of genital exposure ("flashing"), verbal pressure for sex, and sexual exploitation for purposes of prostitution or pornography.
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From the Series:
The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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The diagnosis of PTSD accurately describes the symptoms that result when a person experiences a short-lived trauma. For example, car accidents, natural disasters, and rape are considered traumatic events of time-limited duration. However, chronic traumas continue for months or years at a time. Clinicians and researchers have found that the current PTSD diagnosis often does not capture the severe psychological harm that occurs with such prolonged, repeated trauma. For example, ordinary, healthy people who experience chronic trauma can experience changes in their self-concept and the way they adapt to stressful events. Dr. Judith Herman of Harvard University suggests that a new diagnosis, called Complex PTSD, is needed to describe the symptoms of long-term trauma.
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From the Series:
The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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Crisis is defined as "a dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person's life" and "a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined; a turning point."
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" General Information
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Cyberstalking can be defined as threatening behavior or unwanted advances directed at another using the Internet and other forms of online and computer communications.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Stalking
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Dating violence is controlling, abusive and aggressive behavior in a romantic relationship. It can happen in straight or gay relationships. It can include verbal, emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, or a combination of them.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Bulletins for Teens
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Most states have laws limiting the time during which crimes other than murder may be prosecuted. All states have time limitations for bringing a lawsuit to recover money for damages from the wrongdoing of another -- a civil action. In recent years, many states have adopted extensions to their criminal and civil statutes of limitation for cases of child sexual abuse and in certain other sexual assault cases. The length of the extension varies greatly between the states.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Legislative Topics
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Teens are very vulnerable to crime and unfortunately become victims of crime more than any other age group. They experience all the same crimes that adults do—from robbery, sexual assault, and car theft, to relationship violence, assaults and bullying. How you— and other adults—respond can make a big difference in how your child copes with and recovers from the event.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Bulletins for Teens
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Exposure to traumatic events such as military combat, physical and sexual abuse, and natural disaster, can be related to poor physical health. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is also related to health problems. This fact sheet provides information on the relationships between trauma, PTSD, and physical health; specific health problems associated with PTSD; health-risk behaviors and PTSD; mechanisms that help explain how PTSD and physical health could be related; and a clinical agenda to address PTSD and health.
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From the Series:
The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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Women who have experienced sexual trauma are likely to be high consumers of healthcare services. Many of the problems experienced by female survivors present themselves in the primary care setting. These difficulties include interpersonal, social, physical, and psychological problems that may last for many years. Suggestions for health care providers are offered.
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From the Series:
The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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Traumatic events such as rape cause both short-term and long-term stress reactions. Many people who experience long-term stress reactions continue to function at optimal levels. Those who are unable to function at a normal range or have difficulties in one or more areas may have Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This bulletin discusses Rape-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (RR-PTSD), a form of PTSD suffered by sexual assault and rape victims.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" General Information
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The practice of requiring an individual who has harmed another to repay the victim for the harm caused has been at the heart of jurisprudence in the civilized world. In fact, throughout most of history, the concept of repayment or restitution was inseparable from principles of crime and punishment. But as the power of the state grew, and as the interest of monarchs to intervene in an effort to quell violent settlement of disputes also grew crimes against individuals became "crimes against the state."
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Legislative Topics
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Many states have laws to protect the confidentiality of victims of crime. Confidentiality laws exist to encourage the reporting of offenses, and to prevent the re-victimization of the crime victim through publicity, unwarranted intrusion upon the victim's privacy, and insensitive treatment by the media. To find out what confidentiality rights exist in your state, visit your local law library or contact your state Attorney General or state legislator.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Legislative Topics
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Most grown-ups are nice to kids and care about what happens to them. But every now and then there are grown-ups who try to touch a child in a way that is not okay. It might be a person you know and trust, like a relative, teacher or neighbor.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Safety Plans
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Most grown-ups are nice to kids and care about what happens to them. But every now and then there are grown-ups who try to touch a child in a way that is not okay. It might be a person you know and trust, like a relative, teacher or neighbor.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Safety Plans
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As a parent, one of your primary concerns is your child's safety. While some dangers--a hot stove, traffic or an electrical outlet--seem easy to explain, dangers that involve violence may seem more difficult to talk about. You may be afraid that you will frighten your child. You may not know how to explain violence, or where to start. You may also not want to recognize that your child could become a victim of a crime.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Safety Plans
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Focusing specifically on adult female victims of sexual assault, this fact sheet defines sexual assault, discusses rates of frequency, and provides an overview of some of the short-term and long-term concerns for female victims.
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From the Series:
The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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For sexual activity to be okay, it must be consensual-which means that both people want it to happen. Sexual assault is when any person forces you to participate in a sexual act when you don't want to. This can include touching or penetrating the vagina, mouth or anus of the victim (often called rape), touching the penis of the victim, or forcing the victim to touch the attacker's vagina, penis, or anus. Touching can mean with a hand, finger, mouth, penis, or just about anything else, including objects.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Bulletins for Teens
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Sexual assault is a general term which can include many different crimes and varying degrees of severity of those offenses, such as: rape in the first degree, second degree sexual contact, sexual conduct, and indecent exposure, to name a few. Sexual assault almost always involves sexual intercourse oral or anal intercourse or the penetration or touching of the genitals or anal orifice with a part of the body or an inanimate object. It can be committed by one or more persons against another who is unwilling or unable to physically, mentally or legally consent to the sexual act. In recent years, many states have amended their laws concerning sexual assault to make such crimes gender-neutral that is, sexual assault can be by a male against a female, male against male, female against male, or female against female.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Legislative Topics
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Stalking is a pattern of repeated, unwanted attention, harassment, and contact.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Stalking
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Victims of stalking include individuals presently at risk for imminent danger to their physical and/or emotional welfare, and those with danger continually pending, but not immediately at risk for harm. In addition to becoming familiar with stalking laws that presently exist, victims of stalking should be informed about the resources and procedural precautions available to assist and protect them. It is important for stalking victims to recognize that their victimization is not their fault. Stalking is a crime that can touch anyone, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, geographical location, or with whom a person may associate.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Stalking
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It is critical that victims of stalking maintain a log of stalking-related incidents and behavior. Recording this information will help to document the behavior for restraining order applications, divorce and child custody cases, or criminal prosecution. It can also help preserve your memory of individual incidents about which you might later testify.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Stalking
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Trafficking in persons is the illegal trade in
human beings, through abduction, the use
of threat or force, deception, fraud or "sale"
for the purposes of sexual exploitation or
forced labor. This is also referred to as
modern day slavery.
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From the Series:
Safe Horizon
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Recent evidence suggests that psychological assistance can prevent or greatly reduce the severity of PTSD. Health care providers must be able to accurately identify PTSD and establish referral procedures. Possible behavioral health risks and psychosocial problems associated with PTSD are detailed.
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From the Series:
The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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The term "victim impact statement" refers to written or oral information about the impact of the crime on the victim and the victim's family. Victim impact statements are most commonly used at sentencing. Such statements provide a means for the court to refocus its attention, at least momentarily, on the human cost of the crime. They also provide a way for the victim to participate in the criminal justice process. The right to make an impact statement generally is extended beyond the direct victim to homicide survivors, the parent or guardian of a minor victim, and the guardian or representative of an incompetent or incapacitated victim.
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From the Series:
NCVC "Get Help" Legislative Topics
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All men can play a vital role in rape prevention. Here are a few of the ways.
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From the Series:
Men Can Stop Rape
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