InterAct – Providing Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services
InterAct is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Wake County, North Carolina. Dedicated to ending the vicious cycle of abuse, InterAct is dedicated to “sav[ing] lives, rebuild[ing] lives, and secur[ing] safer futures for victims and survivors and their families.”
In an effort to ensure that victims and survivors can lead a better life after escaping an abusive relationship, InterAct offers confidential 24 Hour Crisis Hotlines, a 24-hour counselor-staffed emergency shelter, individual and group counseling, sexual assault services, personal and economic empowerment and financial programming, and youth education services. Furthermore, InterAct also offers multiple online resources that provide support programs for domestic violence and sexual assault victims statewide and nationally. See below for a partial list of national online resources.
Created by Amanda Smith, using Canva
InterAct encourages people to help in any way they can, which is why they offer individual and group/corporate volunteer opportunities. Individual volunteer opportunities include becoming an adult group facilitator, sexual abuse response advocate, peer educator, and a shelter advocate just to name a few whereas, group/corporate volunteer services include organizing donation closets, painting and gardening projects, spring cleaning or special events. Any group interested in volunteering with InterAct should complete the application process.
In addition, in order to increase community engagement and outreach, InterAct “offers training, presentations and tabletop displays to groups in our community.” Training and presentations on InterAct range from, “general presentations on how [the community can become] more involved, dynamics of domestic and sexual violence, warning signs of abuse, and how to help victims of domestic and sexual violence.”
Because sexual assault and domestic violence are two wide-spread issues affecting “1 out of 3 women in [a] lifetime,” it is important that people step up in an effort to raise awareness. In fact, an article titled, “Community Partnership Curricular Support through a Domestic Violence Forum,” illustrates just how important it is to bring awareness to domestic violence. Students reported that through community-university partnerships and collaboration that they were able to gain awareness and “identify courses in their Bachelor of Social Work curriculum that presented material related to domestic violence” as well as identify signs that domestic violence is prevalent in order to “offer competent care that is free of bias, [which will allow them] to effectively assist their future clients in recovering from trauma.”
You have the opportunity to help spread awareness to domestic violence and sexual assault by volunteering, donating, hosting an event, attending programs and trainings offered by InterAct within our communities, etc. Be apart of helping to make a difference.