The Assaulted Women's Helpline
offers a 24-hour telephone crisis line for abused women in Ontario. The service is anonymous and confidential and is provided in up to 154 languages.
1-866-863-0511
1-866-863-7868 (TTY)

National Domestic Violence Helpline (USA)
Help is available to callers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Hotline advocates are available for victims and anyone calling on their behalf to provide crisis intervention, safety planning, information and referrals to agencies in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
www.ndvh.org

Shelters and crisis centres have helplines as well.

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The following websites have listings that will help you find a shelter or crisis centre near you:

Canadian Association of Rape Crisis Centres
Full listing of rape crisis centres and transition houses across Canada.
www.casac.ca/english/avcentres/avcentres.htm

Shelter Net
Input your province and city to find a shelter near you, or view the full list of all shelters for abused women across Canada.
www.shelternet.ca/en/women/find-a-shelter/

Safety

Shelternet
Website created to provide reliable information for abused women in Canada. Safety plans for women and their children, referrals to shelters across Canada, information on how to hide your internet activities from your abuser. Available in many languages.
www.shelternet.ca

Victim Witness Assistance Program (VWAP)
VWAP services are available in Ontario to adult and child victims and witnesses of crime, after charges have been laid. Closely associated with the domestic violence court program, VWAP staff work extensively but not exclusively with victims/witnesses of partner assault, sexual assault and child abuse.
www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/vw/vwap.asp

S.A.F.E. Alternatives® (Self-Abuse Finally Ends)
"A nationally recognized treatment approach, professional network and educational resource base, which is committed to helping you and others achieve an end to self-injurious behavior."
www.selfinjury.com

Triggers

Getting Through Medical Examination: A Resource for Women Survivors of Abuse and Their Health Care Providers
www.cwhn.ca/resources/csa/article.html

Dental Tips For Survivors
www.sidran.org/dental.html

Moods, mental health and emotional health

The Online PPD Support Group
Offering online support for mothers who have a postpartum mood disorder
www.ppdsupportpage.com

Our Sister's Place
"Our Sisters' Place is a community-based support network for women, with a focus on mood disorders associated with hormonal changes throughout the lifespan."
www.oursistersplace.ca

Postpartum Support International
Online information for women and their families related to postpartum mood disorders
www.postpartum.net

Perinatal Project - Mental Health Advocacy for Mothers
An invaluable resource site for women, families and professionals looking for information related to supporting and understanding women's mental health during the reproductive years
www.perinatalproject.com

Physical health, nutrition

Motherisk
Your source for evidence-based information about the safety or risk of drugs, chemicals and disease during pregnancy and lactation.
www.motherisk.org

Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program
"The Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) is a comprehensive program designed to provide food supplementation, nutrition counselling, support, education, referral and counselling on lifestyle issues to pregnant women who are most likely to have unhealthy babies."
Telephone: (613) 952-0240
www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/dca-dea/programs-mes/cpnp_main_e.html

La Leche League
International organization created to "help mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother."
www.lalecheleague.org

Women Infants and Children (WIC) (USA)
"Food, nutrition counseling, and access to health services are provided to low-income women, infants, and children under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, popularly known as WIC"
www.fns.usda.gov/wic/

National Eating Disorder Information Centre
The National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) is a Canadian, non-profit organization, established in 1985 to provide information and resources on eating disorders and weight preoccupation.
1-866-NEDIC-20 (1-866-633-4220)
www.nedic.ca

National Eating Disorders Organization
1-918-481-4044
www.nationaleatingdisorders.org

Childbirth education and support

International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN)
"A nonprofit organization founded by Esther Booth Zorn in 1982. ICAN's mission is to improve maternal-child health by preventing unnecessary cesareans through education, providing support for cesarean recovery, and promoting Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC)."
www.ican-online.org

Canadian Doulas Association
National listings for childbirth educators, doulas, lactation counsellors and other related health professionals
www.canadiandoulas.ca

Parenting

Parent Kids Right
Parenting tips from pediatrician / author Dr. Marilyn Heins who is also a mother, step-mother, and grandmother.
www.parentkidsright.com

Loss

Bereaved Families
Bereaved Families provides support for people who have lost an immediate family member -- an infant, a child, an adult child, a parent, a brother or a sister, an adult sibling, a grandchild or a spouse.
www.bereavedfamilies.net

The Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths
www.sidscanada.org

Pregnancy After Miscarriage Support (PAM)
This website is dedicated to assisting women experiencing a miscarriage, trying to conceive again, or are pregnant after enduring a loss or losses.
www.pamsupport.org

Making Peace with your Birth Experience
www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBMarApr02p44.html

Miscellaneous

Pro-Choice Action Network
www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org

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The Courage to Heal
A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.
Bass, Ellen and Laura Davis. Harpers & Row Publishers, New York. 1988.

Healing the Trauma of Abuse: A Woman's Workbook
by Mary Ellen Copeland, Maxine Harris (Paperback)

My Mother, My Self.
Friday, Nancy. Dell Books. New York, 1987.

When Survivors Give Birth:
Understanding and Healing the Effects of Early Sexual Abuse on Childbearing Women
Simkin, Penny (2004) ASIN: 1594040222

Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse:
Practical self-help for adults who were sexually abused as children.
Ainscough, Carolyn and Kay Toon, 1993, Da Capo Press ISBN: 1555612253

The PTSD Workbook
Simple, Effective techniques for Overcoming Stress Symptoms
Williams, Mary Beth and Soili Poijula. (2002) New Harbinger Publications, Inc., Oakland CA, ISBN 1-57224-282-5

See also the reading list on the website of Sexual Assault Centre London.

A Safe Passage blog
http://spaces.msn.com/asafepassage/
A blog for survivors who are in the childbearing year and the professionals who support them. The site was created to provide resources, information and support from and for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault and woman abuse.

A Safe Passage email list
http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/asafepassage/
This yahoo group is dedicated to supporting women survivors of abuse in the childbearing year. Many survivors do not realize that abuse can have a unique impact on them in pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Regretfully this information usually comes to women after the fact... usually after their memories are triggered and they are left feeling confused and scared as they embark on their motherhood journey. The body remembers what the mind tries to suppress... becoming a mother is a time when these "stored" memories can surface. I hope survivors will share services and information to support one another in their own unique journey to healing and to grow in confidence as a mother who has survived. Professionals working with survivors are welcome to share their experiences and expertise. Moderated by a woman abuse counsellor and certified doula in Ontario Canada. [Jodi]

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