Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP

Our herstory describes Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP from
its beginnings to the present day.

Herstory of Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP

The Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP Foundation Trust was set up in 1982 by a committee of local professionals with the purpose of providing a crisis service to women who had been raped, particularly to support them through the procedures of police procedures and medical examinations. In order to provide the service, a 24 hour roster needed to set up with a phone number. It was therefore decided that a 24 hour phone counselling service could be offered along with the crisis service.

Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP foundation grew quickly as it became apparent that women needed more than just support at the time, that they also needed follow-up counselling. As the existence of the organization contributed to breaking the silence around sexual abuse and assault, the need for counselling for survivors of historical sexual abuse increased. Currently we have a staff of 20 in roles of crisis workers, duty counsellors, psychotherapists and counsellors, administration staff, a clinical manager, crisis-coordinator, business manager, researchers and child abuse prevention.

Funding for services such as those we provide is always a challenge while the issue lives to some degree on the margins of society. However, this has changed over the lifetime of the organization to the point that we have been partially government funded for some years with and Health Funding Authority and Child, Youth and Family Contract. We also work on a fee for service base with ACC. However these contracts do not pay the full costs of service provision so the organization also relies on donations from survivors, grants from philanthropic trusts, and financial support from a group of individual donors in the community.

The service that the organization currently provides for survivors of sexual abuse and assault are a 24 hour telephone crisis counselling service, a call-out service providing early intervention where a police report is being made, a weekly crisis clinic for emergency appointments, an on-going face to face therapy service for women, children and their families (aspects of this service are also offered on Waiheke Island and in several Auckland high schools), a group for survivors with associated alcohol and drug histories, a prevention programme offered in preschools and training for community groups on request. Our less obvious contributions to the field are training practitioners and engaging in political activity with the goal of societal change. We have a commitment to spreading knowledge about sexual abuse and its effects as far as possible through the social services field. Therefore, we take on as many students as possible and provide ongoing training to staff.

Our political commitments are towards the eradication of sexual violence and getting a better deal for survivors. Towards these ends we lobby government and liase with police. Breaking the silence around sexual violence is also a key part of what we do - we speak out in the media and at rallies and conferences. In 1999 we changed our name from the Auckland HELP foundation to Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP with the aim of becoming more explicit about what we do and bringing attention to the fact that sexual abuse and assault remain unsolved issues in our society. In speaking openly we also hope to contribute to destigmatisation of the issue for the large group of survivors which exists - a group of about three quarters of a million New Zealanders.


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		Our herstory describes Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP from its beginnings to the present day. Herstory of Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP The Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP Foundation Trust was set up in 1982 by a committee of local professionals with the purpose of providing a crisis service to women who had been raped, particularly to support them through the procedures of police procedures and medical examinations. In order to provide the service, a 24 hour roster needed to set up with a phone number. It was therefore decided that a 24 hour phone counselling service could be offered along with the crisis service. Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP foundation grew quickly as it became apparent that women needed more than just support at the time, that they also needed follow-up counselling. As the existence of the organization contributed to breaking the silence around sexual abuse and assault, the need for counselling for survivors of historical sexual abuse increased. Currently we have a staff of 20 in roles of crisis workers, duty counsellors, psychotherapists and counsellors, administration staff, a clinical manager, crisis-coordinator, business manager, researchers and child abuse prevention. Funding for services such as those we provide is always a challenge while the issue lives to some degree on the margins of society. However, this has changed over the lifetime of the organization to the point that we have been partially government funded for some years with and Health Funding Authority and Child, Youth and Family Contract. We also work on a fee for service base with ACC. However these contracts do not pay the full costs of service provision so the organization also relies on donations from survivors, grants from philanthropic trusts, and financial support from a group of individual donors in the community. The service that the organization currently provides for survivors of sexual abuse and assault are a 24 hour telephone crisis counselling service, a call-out service providing early intervention where a police report is being made, a weekly crisis clinic for emergency appointments, an on-going face to face therapy service for women, children and their families (aspects of this service are also offered on Waiheke Island and in several Auckland high schools), a group for survivors with associated alcohol and drug histories, a prevention programme offered in preschools and training for community groups on request. Our less obvious contributions to the field are training practitioners and engaging in political activity with the goal of societal change. We have a commitment to spreading knowledge about sexual abuse and its effects as far as possible through the social services field. Therefore, we take on as many students as possible and provide ongoing training to staff. Our political commitments are towards the eradication of sexual violence and getting a better deal for survivors. Towards these ends we lobby government and liase with police. Breaking the silence around sexual violence is also a key part of what we do - we speak out in the media and at rallies and conferences. In 1999 we changed our name from the Auckland HELP foundation to Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP with the aim of becoming more explicit about what we do and bringing attention to the fact that sexual abuse and assault remain unsolved issues in our society. In speaking openly we also hope to contribute to destigmatisation of the issue for the large group of survivors which exists - a group of about three quarters of a million New Zealanders.


















Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP 24 hour crisis line (09) 623 1700 email: asah@sexualabusehelp.org.nz The address of this page is www.asah.org.nz/herstory.htm Important Privacy Notice: If you do not want others to know you have visited this site, click here