We Believe Survivors

Established in 1983, the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Ottawa (SASC) provides survivor directed peer-support services by women, to women, who have experienced sexual violence. We support all women: immigrant women, Indigenous women, LGBTQ2S+ folks, women with disabilities, women of colour, trans women, and survivors of war. SASC is committed to approaching our work with survivors from a feminist, intersectional, anti-oppression, and anti-violence perspective.

Our Services

We provide advocacy and accompaniment to survivors to support their acquisition of vital supports and services. Services offered by SASC include a 24-hour support line; individual support and support groups facilitated by trained peer support workers; two specialized programs for groups with particularly unique needs: young women under 24, and for newcomer, immigrant and refugee survivors of wartime sexual violence, torture and rape; accompaniment and advocacy services; and public education and awareness initiatives.

Young Womyn Project

The Young Womyn Project specializes in supporting young marginalized womyn between the ages of 14-24 who have experienced intersecting challenges.

YWP believes in the power of young womyn to share knowledge of support and advocacy with one another as a means of gaining strength, resiliency and building community. We firmly believe that all young womyn are leading experts in determining their own needs all while being dynamic and valuable participants in our communities.

Recognizing that marginalized young womyn face many barriers to accessing support, and often face violence due to criminalization, discrimination and lack of social services, we seek to provide flexible and accessible services.

Some areas we offer support in may include, but are not limited to: healing from sexual violence, recognizing abuse and its effects, supporting healthy relationships, effects of family violence, coping mechanisms, communication and assertiveness.

The Young Womyn Project is on Twitter @WomynYoung Instagram @youngwomynprohect and Facebook @youngwomynproject

Watch a Canadian Women's Foundation feature about the Young Womyn Project (formerly named the Young Womyn at Risk Program).

Young Womyn Project

Womyn & War

In our work towards the liberation of womyn and children, we have come to recognize how difficult it is to start a different life in a new country, especially when you do not have anyone to help and support you. Adjusting to a new language, a new culture and a new way of living can be tough and isolating.

We have been supporting survivors of violence for approximately twenty years.  Our approach is survivor-directed, which means our information comes from womyn directly. We believe that womyn are the experts on their lives and can make the right choices for themselves and their families.

Watch an excerpt from 'Undo the Knot' a documentary about Womyn & War produced by program founder, Roya Ghafari and visual artist, Mahvash "Maggie" Mortazavi.

Undo the Knot

SASC in the Community 

Through Public Education initiatives we seek to raise awareness of our services and programs, and the prevalence and impact of sexual assault. We work towards ending gender-based violence, by building community connections.

We believe that public awareness is key to ending sexual violence, sexual violence is rooted in forms of oppression that keep womyn marginalized, and ending violence is both necessary and possible.

Engaging men and boys through MANifest Change

Nearly 53,000 sexual assault cases treated by Ontario doctors over 15 years: study

Take Back the Night march against sexual violence set for downtown Ottawa 

International Youth Day 2019: Young Womyn Project

Generous donation from the 6th Annual Feminist Fair (2019)

Government of Canada announces investment in women’s organizations in Ottawa

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