The Fairfax area and George Mason University have many available resources from which you may choose group and/or individual counseling and other services. Below is a list of agencies and resources with sensitive and well- trained staff who are willing to work with you in any way that you feel is best for you, whether through your healing process, with the legal system, or, if you are GMU student, with any academic concerns you may have as a result of this trauma.
TTY users may find that these numbers are not TTY-accessible. You may want to make initial contact using the Virginia Relay Center: 1-800-828-1120(TTY only).
Crisis Hotlines & Emergencies:
Police (Fairfax Area): 911
University Police:
(993-2810/993-2800 Emergency) (993-2824 Victim/Witness Assistance)
Office for the Dean of Student Services:
302 SUB 1 (993-2884)
Sexual Assault Services:
318 SUB 1 (993-4364) (Pager 515-1873)
Counseling and Student Development:
364 SUB 1 (993-2380)
Student Health Center:
232 SUB 1 (993-2830)
Campus Living Services:
Carroll Hall (993-2720)
Health Education Center
255A SUB 1 (993-2829)
Drug Education Center
303 SUB 1 (993-3686)
The Center for New Students
304 SUB 1 (993-2920)
Campus Ministry
207 SUB 1 (993-3323)
Women's Studies Research and Resource Center
234 SUB 1 (993-2896)
Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, Fairfax Hospital
(703) 698-3505
Fairfax Victim Assistance Network
(703) 360-7273 (24 hours) (703) 799-8253 (TDD)
Northern Virginia Hotline
(703) 527-4077
Other Helplines:
Federal Hate Crimes Reporting Line: 1-800-2-JUSTICE
Virginians for Justice (Anti-Gay Crime) Reporting Line: 1-800-347-HATE
Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-552-7096
About George Mason University's Sexual Assault Services
SUB I, Room 318 993-4364
Violence against women touches all our lives, including the seemingly protected lives of college students. Studies in the late 1980's have shown that female undergraduates are particularly vulnerable to sexual assault by acquaintances, especially in the first six weeks of the first year at college. This is a larger reflection of the prevalence of acquaintance rape in society as a whole; approximately 80% of all sexual assaults are committed by an assailant known to the victim.
Nationally, one in four women experience rape or attempted rape by the time they graduate from college. A study by the Virginia State Council on Higher Education in the 1994-95 academic year found that 27% of all female Virginia college students had been sexually assaulted while in school. Few of these survivors sought emotional support in the form of counseling, or legal redress, out of fear, embarrassment, self-blame and shock. While many survivors learn to cope with or without outside support, others do not, and eventually drop out of school.
In recognition that sexual violence creates a hostile environment on grounds which impedes women's ability to learn and work, the University hired a Sexual Assault Services Coordinator in December, 1993, whose purpose is to raise awareness and work toward eliminating this violence from the university's community. This includes intervention after a sexual assault incident as well as education/prevention work with students, faculty and staff.
The Sexual Assault Services Office:
Promotes University education & intervention resources; working closely
with the Sexual Assault Counselor and other resources on campus;
Offers workshops and programs on sexual assault awareness for student
groups;
Provides guidance to survivors, their partners, family and friends,
regarding options after an assault, including referrals to counselors
on and off-grounds, as well as help for perpetrators;
Trains administrators, faculty and staff in awareness, sensitivity and
resources for their students and colleagues;
Offers opportunities for student, faculty and staff volunteers;
Provides lectures on related topics for university courses and guidance
on curriculum integration;
Co-sponsors educational programs with community and other university
groups;
Maintains a library of books, journal reprints and videotapes for use
by interested parties.
Connie Kirkland, George Mason University's Sexual Assault Services Coordinator, has worked to improve the rights and services of sexual assault victims for twenty years, as a crisis counselor, community educator and criminal justice trainer. She works closely with university and community groups in the belief that it is only through cooperation among various resources that the kind of change necessary for the elimination of sexual violence will occur.
Located in Student Union Building 1, Room 318, the Sexual Assault Services Office (993-4364), is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 - 5pm. Students, staff, and faculty are all welcome to call, whether their questions are for informa- tion and research, or to seek assistance for themselves or someone they know.