Women’s counseling telephone service: fast and effective help

When women who are affected by domestic and sexualized violence contact Opferhilfe beider Basel, they are forwarded directly to our internal telephone service. This is managed by staff from the women’s counseling department. The aim of this telephone service is to provide callers with quick and effective support in their situation or, if necessary, to refer them to the appropriate service. The telephone service also arranges appointments for on-site counseling sessions. Professionals, relatives or other external agencies also contact us for advice on how to support those affected. We communicate via various channels, by telephone, text message or e-mail.

The intensity of the women’s counseling telephone service is very high. This is shown by the minutes of one employee’s morning service:

08:30, the telephone service starts.

At 08:35, a woman who has experienced sexual harassment from a colleague at work and urgently needs advice contacts us. I discuss the current options for action with her, inform her about our counseling services and arrange the next available counseling appointment.

At 09:00 a group leader of a residential home contacts us. A resident had told her caregiver about a sexual assault in her private life. The group leader wants to know how the staff should deal with it and whether we offer counseling. I discuss the case with him and explain the counseling services offered by Victim Support. He wants to discuss this internally and contact us for an appointment with the resident concerned.

In between, I take a look at the protective measures that the police have ordered. These are sent to us on a daily basis. These are interventions in cases of domestic or sexualized violence, where the police have ordered the person committing the violence to be removed, banned from approaching or banned from contact. I try to reach the woman on the phone who was affected by violence and is listed on one of the orders. She answers the call and sounds audibly sad. She is currently in the family home with her two children; the husband was sent away by the police last night. I discuss the possibility of extending the measure with her and arrange an emergency appointment in two days’ time. The woman is visibly relieved that she is receiving legal advice and support from Victim Support in this difficult situation.

At 10:10, someone from the women’s shelter calls about an emergency placement. A woman at risk had contacted them, but they were already full and couldn’t offer the woman a place. I call the second emergency shelter for women and children affected by violence in the Basel area. They can take the woman in today. I immediately forward them the contact details of the victim. The staff member at the emergency shelter will contact the woman immediately and organize her admission.

Then I check the inbox at Victim Support. A woman has sent us a message written in her mother tongue. She describes her situation and asks if Victim Support can help her. With the help of a translation tool, I find out that it’s about problems with her ex-partner, who won’t leave her alone and is stalking her. I tell her that she’s in the right place. And I offer her an appointment, which she confirms in the afternoon.

At 11:35, a woman contacts me whose colleague wants to separate and needs advice on separation, finances and debts. There is no psychological or physical violence involved, as I find out on closer inspection. I therefore inform the woman about the counseling services offered by Familea’s women’s counseling service and then send her the relevant link by e-mail.

I call the emergency shelter again shortly before 12 noon. It was possible to arrange for the woman affected by violence to be admitted and she was picked up at the agreed meeting point by a member of staff from the emergency shelter. Relieved about this solution and having completed the documentation, I end the morning’s telephone service with a brief handover note for my colleague who will take over in the afternoon.