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About Us
The Sexual Assault Survivor Support Line (SASSL) is a peer support line that is staffed by volunteers who are Toronto Metropolitan University students, alumni, and/or TMU community members. It provides Toronto Metropolitan University students with a way to quickly access judgement-free, confidential support from their peers and learn about resources available to them if they or a friend are experiencing sexual or gender-based violence.
SASSL is not a substitute for professional health care. If you are in crisis, suicidal, or experiencing an emergency, please call 911 or the Gerstein Crisis Centre at (416) 929- 5200. Contacting SASSL does not constitute a doctor-patient relationship, a therapist-client relationship, a therapist-patient relationship, or a lawyer-client relationship. Please see below for more information on limits to our confidentiality.
SASSL is run and funded by the Centre for Safer Sex & Sexual Violence Support (CSSSVS) as part of the Toronto Metropolitan University Students Union, and all aspects of the CSSSVS policy also apply to SASSL. SASSL is overseen by the Centre for Safer Sex & Sexual Violence Support Coordinator along with the CSSSVS student staff.
Sexual Assault Survivor Support Line Commitments
1. The Sexual Assault Survivor Support Line will provide a 24/7 phone line and a daily chat line that connects callers to a peer support volunteer. SASSL is committed to keeping these lines staffed with trained volunteers in order to minimize wait times and ensure callers get support from someone well versed in best practices for supporting survivors.
2. SASSL is committed to providing a survivor-centered approach. Volunteers and staff are educated to listen to people accessing the line without making assumptions and to allow them to guide the direction and pace of the conversation. SASSL aims to be a safe place for survivors where they can be supported in making informed decisions without judgment.
3. As a tool for survivors, SASSL will prioritize the wants and needs of survivors (especially student survivors) and will make efforts to include survivors in major decision-making processes regarding SASSL and in SASSL policy changes. SASSL is committed to making an effort to seek out feedback from survivors regarding SASSL, and to make changes according to this feedback.
4. SASSL recognizes that our peer support volunteers are often survivors themselves and/or likely know someone who has been impacted by sexual violence. While volunteers do need to be in a place in their healing journey where they can meet the basic requirements of being a volunteer, we are committed to supporting survivors who wish to participate in sexual violence prevention work. We include self care strategies in our training, and volunteers are encouraged to set their own limits and boundaries in order to help keep them healthy and prevent burnout. This means that volunteers may, at any time, choose to end a call or chat where a boundary they have set is passed.
5. Volunteers are trained to first attempt to pass the conversation on to another volunteer, but they may also choose to end the conversation if they feel the caller is intentionally trying to cause harm, is not respecting CSSSVS policy, or has needs that would be better served by another organization.
6. The CSSSVS Coordinator, CSSSVS staff, and CSSSVS volunteers all have a large role in running SASSL. More information about their roles and responsibilities can be found in the CSSSVS policy.
Sexual Assault Survivor Support Line Terms and Conditions
1. Opt-Out Instructions: If you would like to stop receiving messages from us you can message ‘END’ to (437) 600-7575 and we will be unable to send you any messages unless you restart the conversation.
2. Help Instructions: Reply HELP for assistance.
3. Message Frequency: Message frequency varies based on your interaction with the service.
Limits to Confidentiality
The chat and phone line services are confidential services. A confidential service means that it is the legal and ethical duty of the Peer Support volunteer or Coordinator who answers your chat or call not to reveal information about you to unauthorized individuals. However, there are legal limits to confidentiality. We may, for example, be required to disclose your personal information (including chat transcripts and notes on phone conversations) to an external agency, usually a local child welfare agency or, less commonly, the police, if we think that you or others may be in danger. No one associated with CSSSVS (including the coordinator) has access to your phone number or other personal information unless it is given to us during the course of the phone call or chat conversation. Any information given to us during the phone call or chat conversation may be given to the police or a local child welfare agency if it is determined that we have a duty to report. We do not have access to phone number records and thus cannot pass these on to police; however, in the event police subpoena records from the service we use to receive chats and phone calls your phone number or IP address may be given to police services.
We have a legally mandated duty to report in the following cases: (a) If you tell us that a child (i.e. a person aged 16 years or younger) or vulnerable adult (i.e. a person who is unable to make and/or execute decisions regarding their care or support network) is or may be in need of protection; or (b) If you tell us that someone is hurting you, has hurt you, or is likely to hurt you in the future; or (c) If you tell us you are planning to hurt yourself or someone else.
Other situations in which the personal information you share with us can be disclosed to CSSSVS supervisors, or more exceptionally non-CSSSVS TMSU staff, directors and legal counsel, are outlined in the Centre for Safer Sex and Sexual Violence Support Policy.
Survivors of sexual assault will be informed if any information relating to their sexual assault, status as a survivor of sexual assault, or trauma related to past sexual assault is shared outside of CSSSVS volunteers and staff, except where doing so would interfere with an ongoing police investigation or if such disclosure is otherwise prohibited by law.
Sexual Assault Survivor Support Line Privacy Policy
1. Opt-In Disclosure: By messaging (437) 600-7575 you consent to receive messages from C3SVS peer support volunteers.
2. Cost Disclosure: Message and data rates may apply.
3. Data Usage Explanation: We do not collect phone numbers. Any information that is collected over the course of the conversation will be used solely for crisis support and not for promotional purposes.
4. Data Protection Assurance: Data is only kept in encrypted form and is deleted after one year.
5. Third-Party Sharing: Mobile information and SMS opt-in consent will not be shared with or sold to third parties for marketing or promotional purposes, except where required by law.
Contact Us
We care about the privacy and safety of our staff and peer support volunteers. In accessing SASSL, you agree to not communicate with our peer support volunteers outside of the service. If you have questions, comments, or feedback for us, please email csssvs@yourtmsu.ca. Anonymous feedback or questions are always welcome as well and can be submitted at c3svs.ca.
Policy Review
This policy was approved in May 2022 and has been signed below by the current Executive Director of the Toronto Metropolitan University Students Union; the current Vice President, Equity of the Toronto Metropolitan University Students Union; and The Centre for Safer Sex and Sexual Violence Support Coordinator. This policy will be reviewed by the end of 2023. The review process includes an in depth review and revisment of the policy by CSSSVS staff; an opportunity for community and union members to see the proposed changes, debate these changes, and propose their own changes; and publishing the new policy. Prior to the policy being published, at least one student and one self-identified survivor must review and give feedback on the policy, and the current Executive Director of the Toronto Metropolitan University Students Union; Vice President, Equity of the Toronto Metropolitan University Students Union; and The Centre for Safer Sex and Sexual Violence Support Coordinator must all agree to the changes