Nope! We serve anyone impacted by sexual violence in eight eastern Iowa counties: Cedar, Des Moines, Henry, Iowa, Johnson, Lee, Washington, and Van Buren. The University of Iowa is one community we serve including students, faculty and staff.

Yes! We serve people of all genders.

Our office building is in Iowa City. We serve and travel to eight counties in eastern Iowa: Cedar, Des Moines, Henry, Iowa, Johnson, Lee, Washington, and Van Buren. 

Our services are free. We do not ask for insurance or any form of payment.

Confidentiality is very important to us. Everything we discuss is confidential within the agency with the exception of high-risk suicidal intent or high-risk intent of committing violence against another.

Most advocates are not mandatory reporters. However, some of our staff have specific licensure that requires them to be a mandatory reporter. RVAP staff who are mandatory reporters will inform you before giving you counseling. If you prefer to speak with a staff member that is not a mandatory reporter, that option is available to you. In the event that you do choose to disclose certain types of information to a staff member that is a mandatory reporter, confidentiality will be broken if their licensure requires mandatory reporting. If that is the case, you would be made aware immediately.

Otherwise, we cannot speak to anyone including your friends, family, employer, community, law enforcement or other system without your explicit consent. 

Yes. We serve anyone directly or indirectly impacted by sexual violence including a survivor's loved ones. Rape is one form of sexual violence. Sexual violence is any sexual act committed against someone without that person’s freely given consent. This includes but is not limited to rape, sexual assault, stalking, harassment, sexual exploitation, etc.

Consent should be affirmatively communicated through verbal or non-verbal language. Consent cannot be obtained through coercion, manipulation, force or while under the influence of any drug(s) including alcohol. For a visual explanation of what consent is watch this video about tea and consent.

We can help in many ways depending upon your needs. We offer counseling to current clients and have 24-hour crisis lines. We answer questions, provide information, referrals and options. We provide advocacy services which means we can help you navigate various systems, work with third parties and accompany you throughout these interactions. Check out the Get Help section on our website to learn more.

Organizationally, yes. Historically, RVAP operated as a campus-community partnership, primarily anchored in the community. Over time, it became more tightly integrated with the university, while also providing services to Johnson, Cedar, and Iowa counties. More recently, RVAP provided services not only to the university, but also to an eight-county region in southeast Iowa. The new organization re-positions RVAP to be more community oriented alongside DVIP, which provides domestic violence services in the same eight counties. It’s important to note that from July 2023 to March 2024, 12% of direct services and 7% of crisis calls were from university-affiliated people.

While RVAP will no longer be part of the University of Iowa organization after September 30, 2024 we are committed to ensuring that every person who is part of our university community will still have access to its important services.

After September 30, 2024 the university will continue to provide campus space for university prevention and advocacy services, so our community members continue to have convenient access to them.

We will continue to connect anyone needing assistance with the RVAP team, which remains accessible and committed to providing resources and assistance until September 30, 2024. 

If you or someone you know needs support, please contact RVAP’s help line at 800-228-1625.

After September 30, 2024 members of the University of Iowa community – including students, faculty, and staff – will still have access to services historically provided by RVAP.

The university will provide financial support to DVIP/RVAP for the continuation of these services. Undergraduate Student Government is continuing to provide its financial support to RVAP from the Student Activity fee. The university also will provide space on campus for DVIP/RVAP to offer services to members of our community. We are collaborating with shared governance leadership to ensure that advocacy service staff members remain available in spaces that are accessible and welcoming to faculty, staff, and students.

Additionally, the transition will not affect the role of advocates in the Policy on Sexual Harassment and Sexual Misconduct. Our commitment to prevention efforts outlined in the university’s Anti-Violence Plan will continue through a collaboration between the Women’s Resource and Action Center (WRAC) and DVIP/RVAP. 

Due to staff transitions, services will decrease due to limited capacity, until full transition. Once transitioned to DVIP, they will assume responsibility for all rape crisis services currently administered through RVAP by September 30, 2024. 

These services may include, but are not limited to:

• 24-hour crisis lines

• Support groups

• Advocacy for survivors engaging in medical, legal, and academic responses to violence and reporting assault

• Emergency financial assistance and housing advocacy

• Community-based advocacy

• Referrals to community resources and culturally specific programs

• Prevention education services

• Awareness campaigns

• Survivor support and advocacy training

The challenges faced by RVAP as a part of the university have been a recurring topic of discussion throughout its history. The challenges became even more apparent when its area expanded to cover eight counties in 2014. The 2022 RVAP Program Review, conducted by reviewers selected by the RVAP leadership team, specifically notes that the UI name does not necessarily garner trust in the outlying counties and that RVAP’s positioning in the university adds complexity to achieving its mission.   

The majority of RVAP clients do not report affiliation with the University of Iowa. This transition enables RVAP to align with an agency doing work in the same counties, with a strong and proven structure, fewer bureaucratic barriers, and lower costs assessed to RVAP, meaning more of the money RVAP raises and receives goes directly to survivor services.

DVIP has hired their Director for Sexual Assault Services, and plans to hire two Sexual Assault Services Campus Coordinators and additional staff. 

The Domestic Violence Intervention Program, based in Iowa City, supports survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and human trafficking. More information about the organization can be found on its website.

DVIP and RVAP have partnered on campus and in the community for nearly 40 years.

Most of the currently held grants will be complete with funds expended by September 30, 2024.

Some grants from the State of Iowa Attorney General’s office are currently available to agencies wishing to apply for them. On June 25, 2024, the Iowa Attorney General's Office announced it was awarding the funding for sexual assault services to DVIP/RVAP. 

The RVAP name will continue to be used for at least 18-24 months, to ensure that it is clear the program and services are still available. After that time, a community-engaged process will be used by DVIP/RVAP to determine program names moving forward.

Please note that until Oct. 1, 2024, RVAP continues to provide services and advocate support. To access these services, call the RVAP crisis line at 800-228-1625 and request an advocate.

Grant funding awarded

In compliance with federal regulations, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office opened a competitive grant opportunity for sexual assault services in the area, and DVIP submitted its application at the end of May, receiving notice on June 25, 2024, that they were awarded the funds. This ensures that DVIP/RVAP will serve the same eight-county region as RVAP currently serves (Johnson, Washington, Cedar, Henry, Des Moines, Iowa, Lee, and Van Buren). Understanding that diversified funding sources are critical, DVIP has already begun fundraising and seeking support specific to the addition of sexual assault services. In addition to the funding from the Attorney General's Office, DVIP has been awarded two grants from Johnson County Emergency Solutions and the Lee County Community Foundation.

Individuals interested in supporting sexual assault services are encouraged to make and designate their donations as such by visiting dvipiowa.org/donate.

Program director hired

After an extensive search and interviewing multiple candidates, DVIP recently announced that Shell Feijo was hired as the new program director for sexual assault services at DVIP. Feijo earned a Ph.D.in interdisciplinary studies (race, class, and gender) from the University of Iowa and a B.A. in multidisciplinary studies with honors from North Carolina State University, with minors in English and Africana studies. Prior to graduate school, Feijo was the special projects coordinator at the North Carolina State University Women’s Center, a campus provider of survivor support. She worked as a certified birth doula for many years in the Iowa City area, is an award-winning college instructor, an anti-racist workshop leader, and a devoted advocate to victims of violence. Feijo is certified in trauma-informed care and considers the practice of trauma-informed care a vital part of effective support in working with survivors of violence.

Additional staffing updates

DVIP will be hiring about 10 staff for the Sexual Assault Services Department. Interviews have already begun, and offers for positions are imminent now that major funding questions are resolved. DVIP has hired two sexual assault advocates to provide services on the University of Iowa campus. DVIP is currently interviewing applicants for the remaining five open positions that will serve communities beyond the UI campus.

Advisory board formed

In June and July, DVIP’s Advisory Committee met to outline organizational goals for incorporating sexual violence services, ensuring the authenticity of services for sexual assault victim/survivors, and addressing the strengths and weaknesses of the current environment to support services. The group members are cross-constituency experts in the field of sexual violence services across Iowa.

Technology transitions

DVIP will continue to maintain the existing 24-hour RVAP hotline and incorporate the RVAP name, information, and resources into its online and print media sources to ensure that victim-survivors can locate and access services when they need them. Over the next two years, victim-survivors will continue to have access to all of the ways they have reached out in the past, but victim-survivors will begin to receive additional information about how to reach support now and in the future.

During August and September, DVIP and the UI will test technology systems and seek the support of community partners to help us ensure systems are responding correctly before the full transfer of services on Sept. 30, 2024.

Stakeholder meetings

DVIP has been meeting with key stakeholders throughout its eight-county service area to talk about how sexual assault services will remain the same, where there may be changes, and what communication lines will look like. The needs and cultures of each county and campus are unique. Working groups have been formed to evaluate the protocols or agreements that exist — to name the successes, identify goals or changes each county/campus hopes for, and to ensure lines of communication/access are clear and easily found. Meetings have taken place with community-based organizations, Sexual Assault Response Teams/Investigation Teams (SART/SAIT), criminal justice systems, health care systems, and social services.

Additionally, DVIP has developed a community awareness campaign to help victims find the support they need. The campaign will include an updated logo that has both the DVIP and RVAP names and a social media campaign to help dispel misinformation about how to reach out or get support as a sexual abuse survivor. DVIP also is working closely with the media to share information that is victim-centered and ensures victims have accurate information about available resources.

Campus-based services

The UI will continue to support campus-based advocacy and prevention services. An additional full-time staff member has been added to the sexual assault prevention team in the UI Women's Resource and Action Center (WRAC), and the UI will fund two campus-based advocate positions via an agreement with DVIP/RVAP. Advocacy services will continue to be available to students, faculty, and staff.

Advocates will be available to meet survivors as needed. In addition campus advocates will host open hours from 3 to 5 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, at WRAC, 230 N. Clinton St., beginning Oct. 3.