Domestic and Sexual Violence 24-Hour Hotline 703-360-7273; TTY 711
SAFETY ALERT – If you are in danger, call or text 911.
Department of Family Services Alert:
SAFETY ALERT – If you are in danger, call or text 911.
Free, short-term individual and family counseling services are now available via teletherapy. Call us at 703-324-5730 and choose the option for Counseling Services. The DSVS 24-hour hotline is still available 703-360-7273.
National Resources
State Resources
Local Resources
Domestic Violence Action Center (DVAC)
Historic Courthouse
4000 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 2702
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-246-4573, Email
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. (By appointment only from 4:30-7 p.m.)
Fairfax County Community Services Room
Tysons Corner Center
1961 Chain Bridge Road (2nd Level outside of Nordstrom)
McLean, VA 22102
703-246-5995, Email
Wednesdays and Fridays 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m.
(If you arrive before 10 a.m., please use Parking Deck A, located across from the Michael Kors store. Enter the mall through the entrance situated between Michael Kors and Maman Joon.)
Herndon Neighborhood Resource Center
1086 Elden Street
Herndon, VA 20170
Email
Wednesdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Herndon Connections for Hope
1141 Elden Street, Suite 200
Herndon, VA 20170
Email
Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
InovaCares Clinic for Women and Children
6400 Arlington Boulevard
Falls Church, VA 22042
Email
Mondays and Wednesday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Pennino Building
12011 Government Center Parkway, Suite 740
Fairfax County, VA 22035
703-324-5730, Email
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
One way to help prevent domestic violence is to provide tips on crafting healthy relationships, which is what domestic and sexual violence counselor Lisa Groat did with County Conversation host Jim Person. Learn more about some of the green flags that say, “this relationship is safe.”
We define rape culture as an environment where sexual violence is normalized, ignored, trivialized, or excused due to societal attitudes about gender, power, and sexuality. It describes a culture in which harmful beliefs, behaviors, and systemic inequalities contribute to the prevalence of sexual violence and make it easier for those acts to happen while minimizing accountability for people who inflict sexual violence on others and silencing or blaming survivors. Learn more about how our society makes rape culture acceptable and what we can do to change this.
Love bombing is a form of emotional abuse where an individual intent on causing harm showers a new partner with excessive attention, affection, compliments, declarations of love, and gifts to create an intense emotional bond and a sense of urgency and dependence, which then paves the way for manipulation once the partner is “hooked.” There might also be attempts to isolate the partner from family and friends, ultimately making the victim lose their sense of self within the relationship. Check out these signs.
Did you know quilting and art have long been integral to the movement to end sexual and domestic violence? Art and activism are linked, and creating art can be therapeutic for those who have experienced domestic violence. For Domestic Violence Awareness Month in 2025, Fairfax County Domestic and Sexual Violence Services is collecting quilt blocks created by the community with the theme of “Crafting Healthy Relationships.” The finished quilt will be displayed in Fairfax County Public Libraries in 2026. Learn more about creating quilt blocks.
Unscripted: Conversations about Sexual and Domestic Violence is a podcast featuring employees and subject matter experts from Domestic and Sexual Violence Services and partner organizations discussing all aspects of interpersonal violence, while providing prevention strategies, solutions, and resources for support for residents of Fairfax County.
We assumed sexual exploitation in this country was happening almost exclusively to girls. We were wrong. Research has found more than one-third of young people involved in the U.S. sex trade are boys and young men, with black and brown males and LGBTQ+ young people at higher risk. And the problem is vastly underreported. On this episode of Unscripted, host Kendra Lee and Victoria Nevel-Babla, human trafficking and sexual violence coordinator, and John Crownover, ADAPT counselor, both in Domestic and Sexual Violence Services, discuss this disturbing trend.
Domestic and Sexual Violence Services works with communities to transform society’s response to domestic violence, sexual violence, human trafficking, and stalking by challenging oppression, collaborating to inform policy, and providing everybody impacted by violence with equitable access to trauma-informed support, advocacy, education, and a space for healing. Check out this article about the value of working with Fairfax County Domestic and Sexual Violence Division.
Fairfax County Department of Family Services is on FacebookLike and Follow us on Facebook at @FairfaxCountyFamilyServices for news, events, tips, stories and training opportunities. We support families and county residents of all ages and stages of life. Join our online community and engage with us through social media. #FairfaxCountyFamilyServices
