Supporting Resources, with Anonymity, for Illinois and Chicago Workers

Because experiencing sexual harassment or a sexual assault can be traumatic, it’s important for workers to know about available resources to support persons affected by sexual harassment or sexual assault in the workplace.

Supporting resources can include:

Resources Outside an Employer/Company

Sexual Assault and/or Sexual Harassment Helplines, local or national. Usually these resources are 24/7.

For example, the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, https://icasa.org/ or

The Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence https://www.ilcadv.org/

In Spanish language, Mujeres Latinas En Acción mujereslatinasenaccion.org, Línea de Crisis Contra el Asalto Sexual de 24 horas 888-293-2080, or their Línea de Crisis de Violencia Domestica de 24 horas 877-863-6338.

Or see the Illinois Attorney General’s list of hotlines posted at https://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/women/hotlines.html

Or the Chicago area page at the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health at http://www.nationalcenterdvtraumamh.org/

Any other private or public sexual violence associations and organizations, as well as legal resources, may also be of good support to persons affected by sexual harassment or sexual assault in the workplace.

Listening in the workplace

Employer/Company-Specific Resources

Companies can also provide (or contract with providers) to provide supportive resources for their workers:

Any Employee Assistance Program offered by the company
A Workplace Violence Program Manager, if one exists. Often this individual is a professional victim advocate specially trained in these matters.
Victim Advocate Liaisons, if this network exists (usually in larger organizations). These are usually trained full-time employees who volunteer for this role in a service capacity. While typically not counselors or therapists, these liaisons often operate under the direction of a Workplace Violence Program Manager.

Support With Anonymity

Because there is no effective expectation of anonymity after reporting in the workplace, if a worker wants to discuss a sexual harassment incident while remaining anonymous, it is usually safer to have it take place outside the workplace, and with people who don’t have any association with the employer.

Usually, supportive listening can be available anonymously through a Sexual Assault / Sexual Harassment hotline, such as the ones listed above. Public or private sexual violence association or organization hotlines may also be used.

So long as there is no immediate danger to life and safety, anonymous support from distanced resources is appropriate. For the caller’s comfort, however, it’s a good idea to ask and confirm anonymity/no investigation before giving any incident details.

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Next, tap or click the Next Lesson right arrow in the right windowsill.

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