Anti-Violence Project

SERVING NEW YORK'S LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER, QUEER & HIV-AFFECTED COMMUNITIES

24-HOUR BILINGUAL HOTLINE: 212-714-1141

live without fear

 

services

The New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project (AVP) is the nation's largest organization working to end violence in all its forms against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and HIV-affected (LGBTQH) communities. Since AVP's founding in 1980, we have assisted thousands of people every year, from all five boroughs of the city.

Working for Survivors

AVP offers free and confidential support to victims of bias violence, sexual assault, domestic violence, pick-up crimes, police misconduct, and HIV-related violence. Short-term and long-term individual counseling as well advocacy and referrals are available at AVP.

Our bilingual (English/Spanish) crisis hotline offers 24-hour assistance from counselors and trained volunteers. We advise victims on issues such as how to obtain and enforce orders of protection, fight employment discrimination, and stop abusive landlords or neighbors. We advocate on behalf of victims with the NYPD and District Attorney's offices.

In addition, AVP provides accompaniments and advocacy for our clients with the police, the courts, medical, and social service agencies. If you have experienced violence, call the AVP hotline: (212) 714-1141.

Working Against Violence

AVP works to change public attitudes that lead to violence against LGBTQH people. Violence is any act of harm by a person or group to another. An act of harm can be physical, verbal, or institutional. It can involve denying someone's right to be themselves, harming someone's quality of life, or degrading someone's group or identity. Some acts of violence are direct (for example, assault and harassment), and some are indirect (through discrimination).

AVP documents violence (physical and non-physical) and participates in community activism. We work with law enforcement and social service agencies to make sure they provide appropriate services for our communities. We engage social service providers, health care providers, domestic violence shelters, and law enforcement, as well as LGBTQ communities, about violence issues impacting LGBTQH people.

The AVP Hotline

AVP's hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Our professional counselors and trained volunteers offer emotional and practical support to victims of violence. Support is available in both English and Spanish. All calls are confidential, and callers can remain anonymous.  AVP is a BDSM and kink-aware organization. The AVP hotline: (212) 714-1141.

Hate Violence:

Hate violence—ranging from vandalism to harassment to bullying to assault to murder — are acts of violence motivated by the perptrator(s) prejudices against a specific group of people. Incidents of bias or hate motivated violence are committed against people of color, homeless people, elderly people, people with disabilities, immigrants, LGBTQ and HIV-affected people, and others every single day in the U.S.

Our hotline provides crisis counseling around the clock, while staff members offer intensive short-term counseling. In addition, staff may accompany survivors to hospitals, the police station, to court, or social services agencies, to help survivors report the crime and access services, and also help file claims for emergency benefits from the NYS Office of Victims Services. If you have experienced any type of hate violence, call the AVP hotline: (212) 714-1141.

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence and dating violence are serious and complex problems in LGBTQH communities.  Domestic violence is any pattern of behavior whereby one person is trying to assert power and control over another in an intimate relationship.  Tactics of abuse can include physical violence, threats of physical violence, sexual abuse, economic abuse, harming children, harming pets, and/or isolating ones partner from friends and family. 

AVP works with LGBTQH people dealing with domestic violence. We provide counseling and advocacy services to hundreds of survivors of domestic violence every year. We work with people to safety plan and document the violence committed against them. In addition, AVP offers support groups for domestic violence victims, assists in obtaining orders of protection, and helps locate shelters and emergency housing options.  If you think you might be experiencing abuse, call the AVP hotline: (212) 714-1141.

Pick-Up Crimes

Pick-up crimes are one of the least discussed forms of violence committed against LGBTQH communities. A pick-up crime occurs when two or more strangers meet up, usually for sex. Sometimes they meet online before meeting in person and sometimes they meet in a public area initially. Sometimes it is in the context of recreational sex and other times, it is in the context of sex work. Pick-ups (also known as cruising) usually happen without incident, but sometimes people pick-up or cruise others with the intent to harm. The range of crimes committed includes humiliation, assault, sexual assault, robbery, and homicide. Incidents sometimes occur at the pick-up site or sometimes at a more private location. Victims of pick-up crimes often feel an extra sense of shame or a fear of reporting because they engaged in anonymous sex or sex work and fear being blamed or arrested. Being victimized in this very personal way is never the victim's fault.

AVP maintains the confidentiality of people accessing our services and will provide assistance with police reporting, only if the victim chooses to do so. AVP also works with victims of pick-up crimes through advocacy, counseling, and safety planning. Through reports received by victims, AVP has been able to identify serial perpetrators of these crimes and notify the community.If you have been the victim of a pick-up crime, call the AVP hotline: (212) 714-1141.

Sexual Violence

Sadly, many LGBTQH people experience sexual violence. Sometimes, sexual violence is perpetrated as a bias-motivated attack and sometimes it is committed by ones date or intimate partner. Sexual violence occurs whenever there is any form of non-consensual sexual activity, including unwanted touching above or beneath clothing, unwanted kissing, unwanted comments of a sexual nature or comments on ones body. Most rape crisis centers are geared to serve heterosexual women, and so many LGBTQH people who have experienced sexual violence often have nowhere to go for help, leaving many to suffer in silence.

AVP provides counseling specifically for LGBTQH survivors of sexual violence. We serve callers on our 24-hour bilingual hotline as well as those sent to us by other agencies. We train rape crisis service providers in how to provide help following a sexual assault and, through our connections with other agencies, we offer self-defense classes and other services to assist survivors in their recovery. If you have experience sexual violence, call the AVP hotline: (212) 714-1141.

HIV-Related Violence

HIV-related violence is violence motivated in whole ir in part by the perpetrator's perception that the victim has HIV or AIDS. It includes discrimination, verbal harassment, bias assault, domestic violence, and abuse or neglect by service providers. In addition, HIV-related violence extends to cases where HIV status becomes a complicating factor during or after the violence. For a person who is already facing the challenges of living with HIV/AIDS, recovering from violence can be especially difficult.

AVP provides counseling and advocacy services to hundreds of survivors of HIV-related violence every year. We also conduct trainings about the needs of victims of violence who are living with HIV/AIDS.If you are HIV-positive and have been a victim of violence, call the AVP hotline: (212) 714-1141.

Community-Police Relations

Police misconduct is a major concern in our community. It includes verbal and physical abuse by the police, refusal to assist LBTQH crime victims, unequal application of the law against our communities, and police policies that hurt members of our community, especially LGBTQH people of color, transgender people, youth, and sex workers.

AVP works to bridge the gap between the NYPD and LGBTQH New Yorkers. We provide counseling and advocacy services to victims of police misconduct. We organize the community to respond to incidents of police misconduct and educate them about their rights. In addition, we train law enforcement on responding sensitively and appropriately to LGBTQH people.  If you have been a victim of police misconduct, call the AVP hotline: (212) 714-1141.

Community Organizing

AVP organizes community responses to acts of violence occurring within our neighborhoods and around the city. If a bias crime is committed and police response is slow or absent, AVP raises its voice to demand a thorough investigation. We call on the police to pursue cases until they are solved. We organize the community to speak out against prejudice and bigotry, insisting on the right of all people live free of fear and violence.

Professional Training

AVP works to raise awareness of the realities of violence against and within lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, and HIV-affected communities. A major part of our work is training law enforcement officials, rape crisis centers, domestic violence agencies, hospitals, schools, clinics, and community centers about the needs of LGBTQH people.  If your agency is interested in requesting a presentation or training on any of these issues, please call 212-714-1184

© AVP 2010 | 240 West 35th Street, Suite 200, New York, NY 10001 | webmaster@avp.org | V: 212.714.1184 | TTY: 212.714.1134