If you’re experiencing an immediate emergency, please call emergency services.

If you’re needing emotional support, you can find a domestic violence hotline number to call or text at this page.

You are not alone.

No one deserves to be hurt by the people they care about. If you’re not sure what to think about your experiences with loved ones, you can check out our page, “Is it abuse?” to see if anything sounds familiar, but it can also be helpful to speak anonymously with someone who’s received special training to understand how confusing and complicated it can be to live through abuse.

Contents:

  1. Finding Support
  2. Finding Spiritual Support
  3. Sharing Your Story

Finding Support

Depending on where you live, there may be different resources available to you. You may be facing certain kinds of obstacles making it difficult to find help. These are some of the types of resources available to you with some suggestions on how to go about making use of them and what you might be able to expect. The more variety in support you have, the stronger your safety net, regardless of whether you’re currently in an unsafe situation or you’ve left one.

Safety Note: online browsing leaves a trail. If you’re worried about someone knowing that you were on this site, there are steps you can take to make that trail less easily tracked. You can also click ‘Escape’ at the top right menu at any time to be taken directly to the Google Search page.

You have the right to make your own decisions about your own life and relationships, even if other people are telling you what they think you should or should not do.

Hotlines

Hotlines are usually free, anonymous, and available to provide support and resources at any time of day or night. Many use phones, but some are also available as online chats, too. Not sure if it’s the right hotline to call? Call anyway! Their advocates may be able to steer you in the right direction. Hotlines are also available to allies looking for resources and receiving their own emotional support around a loved one going through a traumatic time.

Organizations & Agencies

Domestic violence agencies and confidential shelters (places whose addresses are kept secret) are a common option. Others may include cultural organizations, which will have resources specific to the needs of a particular cultural or ethnic identity (Red Women Rising is one such example for California Indigenous folks), or diversity centers, which can sometimes provide additional help for folks who identify as queer, trans, and/or part of the queer and LGBTQ+ communities.

Legal Services

Most places are strict in defining who is able to provide legal advice. Laws can be complicated and it’s good to have a lawyer, paralegal, or similar legal expert help you navigate some of those complexities. Advocates can give general information and help you prepare for court, but they can’t provide actual legal advice unless they also carry the requisite licensing.

Therapy & Counseling

Seeing a therapist or clinician is not a sign of weakness. It may take a few tries and a bit of ‘shopping around’ to find a therapist you feel good about working with (after all, they’re people with distinct personalities, beliefs, and behaviors too) but the payoff is usually worth the effort. Unlike advocates, a therapist is a professional with the training to help you work through the emotional part of healing in a much deeper and more personalized way.

Friends & Family

Advocates, social workers, therapists, and lawyers all have their own kind of training, knowledge, and skillsets that can help you get out of an abusive situation and find your feet again. But they don’t replace the emotional intimacy of having someone you love and trust cheering you on and reminding you that you’re loved, wanted, and treasured.

Finding Spiritual Support

At the time of publishing, Macha’s Justice is not aware of any organization that provides services which are specifically pagan or polytheistic. In the United States, you cannot be discriminated against by any social worker, advocate, or other service provider for your faith, but we also understand that there are many reasons that a pagan or polytheist may not wish to disclose any details about their faith to someone who doesn’t understand it.

It’s an unfortunate reality that it’s uncommon for most spiritual service providers such as priests, healers, and diviners to have training regarding domestic violence. If you choose to engage anyone’s services, consider:

  • Is this something that you think you can trust? Why or why not?
  • Does this person have any connections to the person or people who harmed you?

Some common questions that a person might have for a potential service provider:

  • “What’s your policy on client confidentiality?”
  • “I’m particularly interested in getting support around my experience of domestic violence. What’s your professional experience with that?”
  • “Can you describe me the overall process that you do?”
  • “How much does this service cost? What’s your policy regarding times when you might need to charge extra for an unexpected service?”
  • “What if I need to stop partway through and end our session?”
  • “Is there anyone I can talk to who can vouch for you?”

If someone tries to shame or blame you for asking questions like these, you may wish to consider searching out a different service provider.

It’s possible that it may be unsafe to stop a ritual partway through, so it’s good to know ahead of time what to be prepared for. Remember that, as the client, you have the right to end service with someone and walk away at any time, for any reason.

Sharing Your Story

Survivor Voices is a digital ‘library’ in which pagan and polytheist survivors have chosen to share their stories in their own words. You can read them, or even submit your own, on our Survivor Voices page.