Emergency assistance and emotional support in both English and Spanish is provided (24 hours, 365 days a year) by trained hotline volunteers assisting in problem solving, personal safety, and police intervention. Hotline staff also assist in obtaining emergency shelter, medical and legal assistance, and child care, and provide referrals to community resources. The Hotline is one of the few in the Bay Area that provides 24-hour intake to help battered women access emergency shelter. Thirty percent of the calls are from women in life-threatening situations.

A battered woman is often in serious danger. MAWS provides a safe, confidential refuge for battered women and children. Shelter staff help women evaluate their options and future plans. Medical assistance, food and clothing, support groups, children's services, parenting groups, housing assistance, child care and transportation are provided to shelter residents.

This facility provides affordable housing to formerly battered women and their children. In this supportive environment, women can seek job training education, employment, and permanent housing to develop the necessary skills to start new lives that are free of violence

Utilizing a peer support model, support groups focus on providing advocacy which includes sharing resources and making referrals to social services and community agencies. Groups meet in confidential locations to provide emotional support, education, and information on how to make safety plans, resolve legal problems, or prevent abuse. The groups are led by trained facilitators and are open to women in any stage of an abusive relationship. Several groups are held weekly for abuse victims throughout Marin County. Please call the hotline for details.

Reeducation classes are held for batterers, teaching behavior to stop their violence and abuse. A 24-hour Hotline (415) 924-1070 is managed by trained male volunteers helping deter men from engaging in violence. The Hotline provides consultation and makes referrals to classes which offer men concrete ways to end their violence.

MAWS provides leadership in developing policies to prevent and end domestic abuse and protect the rights of abused women and their children. Legal referrals are provided to domestic violence victims. MAWS also works with the judicial system to monitor and to effect appropriate sentences for batterers.

Model programs include Transforming Communities, Creating Safety and Justice for Women and Girls (TC) and, Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Project. These programs are designed to create community change by building intolerance for violence against women and girls.

Marin Abused Women's Services, Corporate Office
734 A Street, San Rafael, CA 94901
(415) 457-2464