CARE provides confidential advocacy, support, and related referrals for LGBTQIA+ students, staff, faculty, and alumni impacted by sexual assault, relationship violence, and stalking.
CARE recognizes that there is not one resource or path toward healing that will best serve all members of a community. The LGBTQIA+ community is no different. CARE takes an active role in recognizing the assumptions that can be made on a daily basis regarding one's sexual orientation or gender, and allows for the client to self-identify in all of their identities.
LGBTQIA+ survivors may feel that institutions designed to help them are inaccessible due to past experiences of homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia from police, courts, medical providers, and even campus resources. CARE will honor any survivor’s wishes to not report to systems or offices that feel unsafe. CARE will work with the survivor to create the best path for them and their individual healing.
What's different about interpersonal
violence for the LGBTQIA+ community?
While many aspects of abuse within LGBTQ relationships are similar to those experienced by heterosexual survivors, there are some key differences in the violence enacted against them. Perpetrators often exert power and control in specific ways based on the survivor’s identity and community dynamics.
Some forms of abuse an LGBTQIA+ survivor may experience include:
- “Outing” or threatening to “out” a partner's identity to their family, friends, or others where this disclosure may cause harm to the partner's access to support systems or resources
- Telling the survivor that the abusive behavior is a “normal” part of LGBTQIA+ relationships
- Telling the survivor that what they are experiencing cannot be dating/domestic violence because it's between LGBTQIA+ people (using the misperception in our society that abuse only happens in heterosexual couples, by a man against a woman)
- Portraying the violence as mutual and even consensual (ie: as a sign of desired domination)
- Sabotaging a partner's hormone treatments, or forcing them to medically transition
- Denying a partner's identity and telling them they are just confused
- Using their own experiences of oppression or past relationship abuse as a tool to deny the current abusive behaviors (ie “you know how much I have been through… I would never do that to you”)
Sexual Identity and Survivorship
CARE advocates understand that the exploration of one's identity in relation to gender, sexuality, and self is a complex process that can become even more complicated when acts of violence occur during the same time in one's life. A CARE advocate can talk with you about these changes in identity exploration and how the violence you experienced might have impacted your sense of self. CARE helps survivors connect with counseling services when desired, through counselors at CAPS (Counseling & Psychological Services) and in the community, to help navigate both concerns, which can be so closely tied.
CARE's Partnership with the RCSGD
CARE works closely with the Resource Gender for Sexual and Gender Diversity (RCSGD) and participates in continuing education to continuously improve our services and be as identity-affirming and supportive as we can be. CARE understands that experiences of interpersonal violence can feel isolating or lead to feeling unsafe, particularly when the survivor and perpetrator of the violence are both in the same community, social circle, or student organizations. CARE is here to help survivors navigate these circumstances as well.
RCSGD Confidential Resource
Beginning in Fall 2022, the Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity is excited to be the site of an additional confidential resource for UCSB students, faculty, and staff. This role will be serving as a Title IX Advocacy Liaison. This role is able to provide support to members of the campus community who have experienced sexual violence and/or sexual harassment (SVSH). This role will no longer be a Responsible Employee under the UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy, which means that students and others can freely disclose their experiences, learn about their options, and be connected to various resources across campus. To schedule an appointment, email directly at advocacyliaison@sa.ucsb.edu.
The role of the Title IX Advocacy Liaison will:
- Provide a safe, supportive, and confidential space for students and employees who have experienced sexual violence and/or sexual harassment and wish to learn more about their rights, options, and resources
- Facilitate a direct connection to a CARE advocate; Offer a connection to Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) or a campus/community resource for emotional or mental health support
- Assist with understanding the University’s SVSH Policy and response frameworks
- Refer to campus offices that may be able to address any additional concerns and/or offer support
This role will not:
- Act as a witness, advisor, or support person in any investigation or hearing
- Advise a Complainant on how best to respond to an investigation
- Provide legal advice
- Accompany a Complainant to any meetings or court appearances
Students and employees can schedule a meeting by emailing directly at advocacyliaison@sa.ucsb.edu.
The Importance of Location
CARE has two locations one in the Student Resource Building (SRB), on the second floor closest to Pardall Tunnel in room 2145, and the other in the Gaucho Support Center in Isla Vista, near Embarcadero Hall. CARE wants you to feel comfortable and empowered to directly ask for your appointment to be at the Gaucho Support Center in Isla Vista to help ensure that your experience with CARE is as comfortable and affirming as it can be.
Confidentiality
All faculty and staff, who are not confidential, are required to report all students' disclosures of sexual violence, relationship violence, and/or stalking to the Title IX office to ensure consistent student services and Title IX policy compliance. A CARE advocate can discuss any student's concerns one-on-one, without sharing the student's name, identifying information, or any other details about their visit with CARE to other campus offices – your professors, coaches, RA, RCSGD center staff members, or your peers will not be notified that you have visited CARE, unless you explicitly request CARE's assistance in working with them. The Title IX office also works to protect students against cases of discrimination against LGBTQ people, CARE and the RCSGD are locations were a survivor can go to, in order to find support and accompaniment throughout these Title IX processes as well.
Campus Resources
CARE recognizes…
CARE recognizes that each individual may hold many of the different identities that our Communities we CARE for pages address. For more information on another identity, please go back to Communities we CARE for.
We support survivors from all backgrounds, the survivors that we serve are not limited to the identities listed on our Communities we CARE for page. If you do not see your identity listed, and would like to learn how interpersonal violence impacts you, please call our 24/7 confidential phone number at 805-893-4613 or make an appointment online to be connected with a confidential advocate.
Making an Appointment
with a CARE Advocate
Schedule a non-urgent appointment with a CARE Advocate.
To speak with a confidential advocate immediately, please call our 24/7 CARE advocacy line at 805-893-4613. If you have an emergency or feel that you may be in immediate danger, please call 911.
If you have experienced a sexual assault within the last five days, call CARE at 805-893-4613 or navigate to the Medical section on our Advocacy Services page to learn about the time-sensitive option to seek a free, confidential forensic medical exam.