Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS) of Lane County is launching a pilot group program to address sexual assault among men. The program, running during the month of August, is aimed for male-identifying individuals to meet and address their own experiences of sexual assault, providing four online sessions to meet. This program adds onto SASS’s ongoing support groups for women and an all-gender support group, which runs year-round.
“We often focus on what kinds of provisions we can offer along the lifelong journey of healing for survivors,” says Gracia Dodds, SASS facilitator. “So that might be emotional support in the context of support groups, it might be someone who is seeking legal counsel or legal advocacy, or we might provide court accompaniment.”
It’s a two-pronged approach: In the aftermath of sexual violence SASS is there to provide support and care for victims, and SASS volunteers go to the hospital and support them through the process of navigating the legal system. The second main support SASS provides is through prolonged care afterwards, and they run a 24-hour crisis and support line to help people and provide assistance for those who need further legal support.
“The men’s support group has been something that’s been requested for quite a few years. We wanted to be really specific about when we offered it, because I think it’s pretty important for shared identities to be something we’re thinking about with facilitators,” Dodds says.
Vinny Zarate, another facilitator who joined SASS as an intern, is leading the men’s support groups for August. “There’s always the potential to bring it back if there’s immense popularity and facilitators have capacity in the future that’s long standing.”
Zarate is creating four sessions that aim to cover topics such as identity, masculinity, mental health, continuing relationships and communication. Currently the registration for these groups is capped to 15 participants.
“Creating this community allows men to seek help and support without having to engage with traditional processes that people would, like through hospital or through referrals through their care team,” Zarate says.
Nationwide, nearly 25 percent of men have experienced some form of sexual violence within their lifetime, according to research by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. An estimated 1 in 6 boys experience sexual assault before turning 18, according to nationwide surveys.
Although the men’s support group is only in August, the all-gender support group is expected to continue throughout the year. The all-gender support group started in 2024 and has quickly become one of SASS’s most popular support groups. SASS also provides culturally specific programming and recently hired a Latine outreach coordinator to expand SASS programming to the Latine community.
All support group sessions are confidential and are aimed at creating a safe, welcoming space. There is an emphasis on confidentiality and creating an environment in support groups that run on shared norms.
“We’re privileged advocates, which means we hold a special position, receiving disclosures from survivors, where we’re legally barred from telling anyone else what they disclosed to us without specific permission from the survivor,” Dodds says.
Syd Reed, SASS’s community programs manager, wants to see continued engagement with the program and hopes to increase funding for the program long-term. Since SASS is funded primarily via government funds, it has seen a drastic reduction in federal money after the Trump administration cut funding for the Office on Violence Against Women by nearly 30 percent. This agency administered grants under the Violence Against Women Act, which is currently sitting on $200 million in unspent funds.
“We are definitely in a place where we are feeling really lucky to be able to offer this expansion to do this limited series for support groups, because we’ve definitely sort of buckled down, and focused on sustaining what we’re already doing,” Reed says.