Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Prevention

If you or your family are in immediate danger, call 911.

If you have been abused by an intimate partner, call the Washington State Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-562-6025.

If you have been sexually assaulted, call the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center: 1-888-998-6423.

The City of Seattle works to keep all adults and children safe from domestic violence and sexual assault. We help victims and survivors create safe and violence-free lives, and heal from the trauma of abuse or sexual assault.

A citywide investment of $15 million annually in criminal justice and victim services programs helps victims and survivors find safety, holds offenders accountable, builds community support to end abuse and violence, and ensures that all citizens have access to critical services. This involves collaborating with numerous private and public agencies to provide many services and programs, convening elected leaders and community partners to work together, and seeking public and private funding to enhance programs and services for Seattle residents.

Much of our work takes place in the Domestic Violence Prevention Council, which develops, implements and coordinates citywide efforts to reduce and prevent domestic violence. Human Services Department staff oversee the workings of the council and coordinate the efforts of its member agencies.

On this site:

• For domestic violence survivors and family, friends and co-workers
• For sexual assault survivors and their family and friends
• For people who speak a primary language that is not English
• For abusers
• Prevention information

Donate to the Prostituted Youth Rescue Fund

A Residential Recovery Program for Prostituted Children in King County
January 2010

There are between 300 and 500 prostituted children in King County today, some as young as 11. Prostituted children are subject to severe physical and psychological abuse from pimps and “johns.” They often experience mental illness and substance abuse problems.  Recovery from the resulting trauma requires extensive and highly specialized services provided in a safe setting.  There are no services specifically designed for these children today—in Seattle, in King County, or anywhere in the state of Washington.  In fact, few such programs exist in the country. 

After years of planning, many community partners are coming together to raise money to support a two-year pilot program that will house and provide services to approximately 20 youth per year between the ages of 14 and 17.  Services will be delivered in a highly structured environment, with activities designed to meet both the individual and collective needs of participants. Specialized prostitution recovery services will be provided including counseling for traumatic stress and trauma recovery, survivor support groups, health education, medical care, life skills training, support for GED or high school completion, help preparing for enrollment in post-secondary education, job readiness training, employment placement and internships. Lastly, participants will be given safety, security and opportunities to have fun, engage in age-appropriate activities and begin to reclaim their youth.

This program will be professionally evaluated to ensure that the services are working to help children heal from the trauma they have experienced, achieve their goals and reach their potential.

The City of Seattle’s Human Services Department will contract with YouthCare, a local 501(c) 3 nonprofit agency located in Seattle to provide the services.  YouthCare has extensive experience as a provider of services to troubled youth. 

Our goal is to launch this program in the spring of 2010. 
Your tax deductible donation is needed to make this dream a reality.

To make your tax deductible donation, please:

• Send a check to:  City of Seattle Prostituted Children Rescue Fund, c/o Human Services Department, PO Box 34215, Seattle, WA 98124-4215, or

• Donate by credit card:  Call the City of Seattle’s Treasury Department at (206) 684-3911 and ask that your contribution be deposited in the Prostituted Children Rescue Fund.

Thank you for your kind support of this important project.

Please follow this link to the Seattle Times Editorial of December 21, 2009: Help vulnerable girls and women leave prostitution

Youth Involvement in Prostitution in Seattle
Who Pays the Price? Youth Involvement in Prostitution in Seattle
The Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Division has released a report, titled "Who Pays the Price? Youth Involvement in Prostitution in Seattle", recently completed by Dr. Debra Boyer. The report was commissioned to guide funding and policy decisions, and to help facilitate a more coordinated response to the problem.

Reports

Biennial Report on Domestic Violence in Seattle
Toward Safety and Justice: Domestic Violence in Seattle are biennial reports that aim to raise public awareness of all aspects of domestic violence – what it is, who and how many people it affects, and how the community responds to domestic violence. These reports include national and local criminal justice and service data that helps explain the scope of the problem in our region. The reports also include the City’s efforts to address these problems and gaps in services.

• 2006 Biennial Report
• 2008 Biennial Report

Promising Practices in Sexual Violence Prevention and Community Mobilization for Prevention: A Report to the City of Seattle, by Erin Casey, Ph.D., MSW
This report was commissioned by the Seattle Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Division within the City of Seattle Human Services Department. The report is an overview of the current state of the literature related to effective and promising approaches to sexual violence prevention. Additionally, current knowledge regarding best practices and critical elements of community mobilizing as a prevention strategy are reviewed. The goal of the report is to assist the City and its community partners in identifying sexual violence prevention-related activities that are likely to carry the greatest impact given limited resources.

Strategic Plan
The 2010-2012 Strategic Plan on Seattle’s Criminal Justice Response to Domestic Violence, adopted by the Domestic Violence Prevention Council in October 2009, provides a framework for the continuous review and improvement of the City of Seattle's response to domestic violence.

Information

For more information, call the Seattle Human Services Department’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention program at 206-233-2774, or e-mail endviolence@seattle.gov.

For more information about our partners and other programs and services, visit:

• King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• King County Sexual Assault Resource Center

Important note: An abuser may be able to tell what Internet sites you have visited while on your home computer. The safest place to find information on the Internet is at a local library, a friend’s house, or at work. There may be other ways to protect your safety on the Internet. For more information, please visit:

• Eastside Domestic Violence Program
• Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence