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Personal Safety Education

Nourishing the Mind, Body, and Spirit
Crisis Hotlines

If you or someone you know needs help, call one of these hotlines or find more community resources

  • National Human Trafficking Hotlinenew window: 1-888-373-7888 (TTY: 711)National Human Trafficking Hotline, 1-888-373-7888 (TTY: 711)
  • BeFree Textlinenew window: Text HELP to 233733 (BEFREE), Confidential, 24/7
  • Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence: 1-800-MD-HELPS or 301-429-3601
  • National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233); 1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
  • National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), available 24 hours a day
  • National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline: 1-866-331-9474; 1-866-331-8453 (TTY)
  • National Victims of Crime Hotline: 1-855-4-VICTIM (855-484-2846)
  • Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN): 800-656-4673
  • Stalking Resources Center: 202-467-8700

The Health and Safety Education programs and activities teach students how sensible risk management can prevent harm.  It is through a sensible approach to health and safety that the SHaW Center for Success focuses on how risks are managed.  Through awareness campaigns and educational programming, students receive guidance that help them to manage health and safety in their lives to strike the right balance. The Health and Safety Education component of the SHaW Center for Success:

  • Identifies resources and programs that educate students on timely safety issues that ensure students make adequate decisions that lead to healthy relationships and overall safer experiences;
  • Provides education and awareness programs that equip students to be prosocial bystanders and guidance to manage risks to individual and community health and safety;
  • Connects students to campus and community resources that provide support and education related to health and safety.
Events
Bringing in the Bystander: Bystander Intervention Workshop

The Bystander Intervention Training program teaches students about gender-based violence, consent, and bystander intervention skills. Upon completion, students will know how to safely intervene in situations that could immediately lead to violence and how to interrupt a culture that is permissive of gender violence. Students will acquire intervention tools to use in situations that seem risky in order to become effective and active bystanders. The BIT program engages in topics including intimate partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, harassment, survivor empathy, and consent. This is a virtual event.

Stop Sexual Harassment Workshop

Sexual harassment is a prominent problem, and it is a large complaint for many MC students.  No one deserves to be sexually harassed!  Sexual harassment interferes with those targeted from learning, working, and living peacefully.  This workshop will engage you in challenging your preconceived ideas about sexual harassment and educate you on how to help prevent it.  To achieve ideal conditions for everyone, participants will learn important knowledge and skills to aid in achieving the safest learning space.  Participants will learn to:

  1. Identify sexual harassment behavior and issues and stop them.
  2. Identify the difference between sexual harassment and discrimination.
  3. Understand and identify boundaries.
  4. Recognize correct and incorrect behavior.
  5. Become aware of the legal rights and implications related to sexual harassment.
     

This is a virtual event.

  • At 3:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 16. Registernew window

There is a drawing for an Emerge Helix Content Creator Portable Studio Kit for livestreaming, content creation, and more. The kit includes a LED ring light, microphone, tripod mount, universal holder and rig-to create studio level content with just a smartphone.

Stalking Awareness Workshop

Stalking is a serious and dangerous crime that is prevalent in every community in the United States.  Stalking needs to be understood and discussed more frequently.  Everyone plays a role in knowing, naming, and stopping stalking.  This workshop provides a basic overview of stalking, focuses on defining stalking, recognizing the contextual nature of the crime, and provides strategies for participants to get involved in building awareness and supporting victims and survivors. This is a virtual event.

 

Bystander Circle

A monthly opportunity for those who have completed the Bystander Intervention Workshop to work on strategies and discuss challenges with implementing them.  Participants will renew their pledge as prosocial bystanders and create an action plan to continue working on skills and strategies learned in the Bystander Intervention Workshop. Meets monthly for 1-hr. This is a virtual event.

  • Dates TBD
 
Safety Planning Workshop

Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women—more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. The most dangerous period in an abusive relationship is when the victim attempts to leave, leaves, or has left the relationship. It's easy to tell someone to leave but if it isn't planned with the help of others, it can be lethal to leave. A safety plan is a personalized, practical plan to improve your safety while experiencing abuse, preparing to leave an abusive situation, or after you leave. In this workshop, participants will learn to create a personalized plan to reference whenever they need it. This is a virtual event.

  • At 3 p.m., Monday, April 29. Registernew window 
Safety Planning

Relationships should be safe and healthy but sometimes, they aren’t. How do you remain safe if the relationship is unhealthy? How do you leave safely? By safety planning, one can help avoid dangerous situations and know the best way to react when in danger. All year, awareness tables, prevention and awareness messaging and events will focus on the need to assess safety and to devise a safety plan.

One way that the SHaW Center for Success promotes health and safety is through Safety Planning. Learn to protect yourself or those you love by implementing and promoting the use of a Safety Plan!

Help us reach students with this information!

Videos links:

BITB Training (Bringing in the Bystander)
BITB Training (Bringing in the Bystander) for faculty and staff to become trainers to help educate MC students via a 90-minute presentation their professor arranges by request through the VAWA Coordinator.
Campus Resources
Public Safety
  • Dial 7-3333 from any campus phone or 240-567-3333 to reach a campus public safety office.
Confidential Reporting, Counseling Offices
  • Germantown: 240-567-7734
  • Rockville: 240-567-4104 
  • Takoma Park/Silver Spring: 240-567-1600
Title IX Coordinator
Community Resources
  • Police: Call 911
  • Rape Crisis Centers in Marylandnew window
    • Services: Crisis intervention, counseling, and referral; victim accompaniment to hospitals, police interviews, and court to provide support and information about options; 24-hour Crisis Hotline with counselors trained to listen and offer information; individual, group, and family psychotherapy, assistance navigating the legal and judicial systems.
  • Sheppard Pratt Emergency Shelternew window
    • Must be referred from county crisis line: 240-777-4000
    • Services: Montgomery County emergency shelter for survivors of domestic abuse.
  • Confidential Reporting through the Montgomery County Victim Assistance Sexual Assault Programnew window (VASAP): 240-777-1355, weekdays; 240-777-4357, 24-hour crisis hotline, 240-777-1347, TTY; 240-777-1329, fax; vasap@montgomerycountymd.gov. VASAP has a liaison for each MC campus. Contact a liaison at 240-777-1355.
    • Veronica Zapata Velez, LCPC Therapist (Rockville)
    • Carolina Carbajal, LCPC Therapist (Silver Spring/Takoma)
    • Gloria Bowen, LCSW-C Therapist (Germantown)
  • Family Justice Centernew window 240-773-0444
    Services: Safety planning, legal advocacy, immigration consultation under VAWA, counseling, criminal investigation, emergency protective orders, shelter placement
    600 Jefferson Street
    Rockville, MD 20852
    24 Hour Assistance 240-777-4000
  • Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Projectnew window
    Services: Case management, survivor empowerment groups
    Helpline: 202-833-2233 speak with an advocate Monday – Thursday, 9:00am-6:30pm and Friday 9:00am-6:00pm
    Multilingual: Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, Cambodian, Cantonese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Mandarin, Mongolian, Pampango, Punjabi, Shanghainese, Sinhala, Tagalog, Ilokano, Thai, Urdu, Vietnamese
  • Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault- Sexual Assault Legal Institutenew window 301-565-2277
    Services: Criminal justice advocacy, civil services for survivors
  • Maryland State Coalition Against Sexual Assaultnew window: 301-328-7023; info@mcasa.org 
  • Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abusenew window
    Services: Counseling, legal, victim advocacy, helpline
    Helpline: 877-885-2232
  • Pro Bono Counseling Project Victims of Violence Programnew window
    410-825-1001
  • Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Centernew window 301-618-3154
    Services: Crisis and short-term trauma counseling, sexual assault forensic examinations, safety planning, victim advocacy
    University of Maryland Prince Georges' Hospital Center
    3001 Hospital Drive 
    Cheverly, MD 20785
  • DC Rape Crisis Centernew window 202-333-7273
    Services: Individual and group counseling, advocacy, crisis hotline
  • Wendt Center for Loss and Healingnew window 202-204-5021
    Services: Trauma and grief counseling, crisis intervention for domestic violence (Washington, DC)
  • Family Health Centernew window
    Services: Individual, group, anger management, Domestic Violence Offenders program
    Bilingual in English and Spanish
  • Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC)new window  202-558-0040
  • DAWNnew window
    Services: provides crisis intervention services for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind communities.
    • Survivor Services: Resource referral (restorative justice, medical and legal),Case Management, Wraparound services, Peer Advocacy, Counseling, Support Groups, Resiliency Education.
    • Additional services: they provide alternative services to support community-based healing and self-determination through restorative justice, non-traditional healing services, and intensive collaboration with cultural agencies and organizations.

1140 Third Street NE, 2nd Floor
Washington, DC  20002
info@deafdawn.org

DAWN Emergency Hotline (Mon-Fri, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.)
hotline@deafdawn.org

The Deaf Hotlinenew window: 24/7 Hotline
855-812-1001

Know Your Rights and the Laws in Your State

Know the legal definition of rape and the statute of limitation for different sex crimes by searching the laws in your state through RAINN's State Law Databasenew window. It matters where you live because legal definitions may vary by jurisdiction. This is a guide to the laws relevant in your state. RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. The information provided in the link about state laws covers various state laws by topic, such as: 

What is VAWA?

Under the leadership of then-Senator Joe Biden, Congress recognized the severity of violence against women and our need for a national strategy with the enactment of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994. This landmark federal legislation’s approach to violence against women combined tough new provisions to hold offenders accountable with programs to provide services for the victims of such violence. VAWA ensured that victims and their families have access to services they need to achieve safety and rebuild their lives by:

  • Establishing the National Domestic Violence Hotlinenew window, 800-799-7233; 1-800-787-3224 (TTY, En Español)
  • Improving safety and reducing recidivism by developing coordinated community responses that allow community stakeholders to collaborate to prevent and respond to violence against women;
  • Focusing on the needs of underserved communities which includes creating legal relief for immigrant victims so that abusers cannot use their immigration status to prevent the victim from reporting to law enforcement.

The VAWA Reauthorization Act was signed into law under President Barack Obama to focus renewed attention and resources on college campuses, under the Campus Sexual Violence Act (“SaVE Act”) provision, Section 304. This requires colleges and universities to document and report dating violence on campus and ensure victim’s safety by mandating schools create plans to enforce protective orders and notify the victim of their rights. VAWA requires colleges and universities to:

  • Report domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking
  • Adopt certain student discipline procedures, such as notifying victims of their rights, and
  • Adopt certain institutional policies to address and prevent campus sexual violence.
VAWA-Related Activities at MC

For compliance (Clery and VAWA requirements for training and education), the College must document and report awareness and risk reduction programs.  

Education programs include: 

  • Primary prevention and awareness programs for all incoming students and new employees
  • Safe and positive options for bystander intervention
  • Information on risk reduction to recognize warning signs of abusive behavior
  • Ongoing prevention and awareness programs for students and faculty 

It is important that we track all prevention and awareness programming for students, faculty, and staff that address the issues of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. If you, your department, organization, or groups provided any programs, meetings, or training sessions which were directed at violence prevention, please complete the Montgomery College VAWA Education Programs formnew window.  

Guide for Victims and Survivors of Domestic Violence During the Pandemic

Victims' and Survivors' Guide to Domestic Violence During the Pandemicnew window

This guide includes:

  • Recognizing Red Flags and Barriers in Abusive Relationships
  • Tips on Emergency Planning and Tech Safety for Victims Fleeing
  • Support Services for Housing, Immigration, and Financial Independence
College Safety Guide, Stay Safe on Campus

College Safety Guidenew window

College can be one of the most exciting, inspiring, and transformative times in your life. To get the most out of your time in school, you'll need to feel safe at all times while you're on or near campus. Unfortunately, not all students do. Whether that's because of their sexual orientation, religious beliefs, gender, or anything else, students don't always feel secure at school. The good news is that crime at colleges and universities is on the decline.