RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline

Most hotline sessions last between 30-60 minutes. The support specialist will listen to you and try to support and address your immediate concerns and needs.

RAINN’s trained support specialists will listen and respond with genuine compassion and care. The hotline is a place where you can share openly and ask questions. No matter what you experienced or when it happened, support specialists are equipped to provide information, resources, and referrals to meet both your immediate and long-term needs. We can provide referrals for long-term mental health support, local sexual assault services, and legal or medical needs. We may also offer you links, book suggestions, and apps for more information about the effects of sexual assault and alternatives to long-term counseling.

• The hotline is completely anonymous. We will never ask for your personal information, and you never need to tell us your name, location, or other identifying information. 
• If you do choose to share your name and location and are under 18 or a vulnerable adult, RAINN is required by law to report to authorities in your state. We may also make a report if we believe you are considering suicide. But if you do not share your name and location with us, the session will remain anonymous and confidential. It is always your choice.

It can be difficult to talk about what happened. You can take comfort in knowing that RAINN’s hotline support specialists are trained to meet the unique needs of survivors. These support specialists come from many different backgrounds, have a wide range of experiences, and are all dedicated to offering support. RAINN carefully vets, trains, and monitors the performance of all staff members. In addition, each chat is overseen by a highly trained supervisor to ensure all visitors have a positive and helpful hotline experience.

When you are done chatting with the support specialist, you have the opportunity to leave feedback about your experience with the hotline. User feedback helps us to continuously improve the Online Hotline and offer a service that best fits our users’ needs.

• To ensure your safety, RAINN has partnered with the country’s top technology and online security companies to build a hotline that is as safe and secure as current technology allows.
• We will never ask you for personal information such as your name or location. 
• We do not store chat transcripts or recordings. As soon as the chat ends, the conversation is deleted. 
• We don’t store technical details that could identify you, such as your IP address.
• Before you start, please make sure that (1) you’re in a safe place to talk or chat, (2) you’re using a private phone or computer, and (3) your Internet connection is secure.

• We will store a session cookie on your device. The cookie will be deleted as soon as the session ends. We do not store anything on your device once the session is over.
• However, your browser history may include your visit to the hotline. To avoid that, you can use Incognito browser mode in Chrome or a Private Window in Safari. You can also delete your browser history after your visit. RAINN does not have the ability to delete your history for you. 
• Your internet provider may keep a record of the sites you visit. 

• Calls and chats are never recorded. We will not ask for your name, address, or other identifying information. If you do choose to tell us your name and location, and are under 18 or a vulnerable adult, we may be legally required to provide any contact information you give us to local authorities. If you do not choose to share identifying information with us, the session will always remain anonymous.
• You can read our full terms of service here.