CFVC Launches Statewide Spanish Hotline

After weeks of collaborative efforts, the Georgia Statewide Spanish Language Hotline is now activated!

Why a  Statewide Spanish Language Hotline?

In addition to the usual obstacles of leaving an abusive relationship, immigrant victims of Domestic Violence face many challenges because of language, cultural barriers, and lack of knowledge about resources, keeping victims isolated from seeking support.  On top of that, complex legal and immigration systems are difficult to navigate, shutting down opportunities for a safer outcome of survivors.  Abusers often use these barriers to their advantage in order to isolate even further the victim, preventing them from acquiring information about their legal rights and resources.

In Georgia, culturally specific services tend to be clustered in the metro Atlanta region.  The rural areas’ victims of Domestic Violence have limited access to services, especially with regard to interpreters.  To ensure that immigrant victims of Domestic Violence in Georgia have access to linguistically and cultural competent services, Cherokee Family Violence Center applied for federal funding to implement a 24-hour Statewide Spanish Language crisis line.  Funding was awarded and on April 14th, 2014, this long needed service was officially launched.

How will this new service operate?

Any victim calling the well-established GA Statewide Hotline (1800-33 HAVEN) has now the option to speak to a bilingual advocate if selecting option 2 on the prompt menu. The caller will be connected to our trained Spanish speaking Advocates who will be able to assess for safety, provide information about resources and connect the victim to the appropriate resources in their area.

If a client in your agency or someone you know can benefit from this new service make sure to provide them with the Statewide GA Hotline (1 800 33 HAVEN) and have the caller choose option 2 for Spanish.