Assaulted Women's Helpline

What Assaulted Women's Helpline does

Assaulted Women's Helpline (AWHL) is a Canadian non-profit organization founded in 1985 and headquartered in Etobicoke, Ontario, that operates the only 24-hour telephone and TTY crisis line in the province dedicated specifically to women who have experienced abuse. The organization provides crisis counselling, emotional support, safety planning, and referrals to shelters, legal services, and health resources. Services are delivered free of charge across multiple access channels: a GTA crisis line (416.863.0511), an Ontario-wide toll-free line (1.866.863.0511), TTY services for deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing survivors, SMS text support via #SAFE/#7233 on Bell, Rogers, Fido, and Telus networks, and a dedicated Seniors Safety Line (1.866.299.1011). Coverage extends to over 200 languages through interpretation services and is available 365 days a year; AWHL reports helping approximately 93,000 women annually in Ontario.

The underlying technology stack is telephony- and accessibility-centric rather than software-platform-centric, comprising conventional voice infrastructure, TTY/teletypewriter endpoints, SMS short-code routing across major Canadian carriers, and a Salesforce-based online donation site. The product portfolio includes the core AWHL crisis line, the wholly-owned Seniors Safety Line subsidiary (Ontario's only 24-hour senior abuse crisis line), the Not Alone Portal (notalone.awhl.org) for online resource access, a fee-based Training, Resource & Outreach workshop program for workplaces and organizations, and social media/web security guidance for users concerned about digital tracking. There is no public API, mobile app, or documented AI/ML capability.

AWHL is funded through a diversified mix of individual donations, monthly giving, corporate giving, employee charitable gift matching, United Way designations, charitable registration (#127624443 RR0001), Ontario Trillium Foundation grants, charitable gaming via Rama Gaming House Toronto East (joined January 2020), planned/legacy giving, and event fundraising including the annual Constantine Yorkville Run. Go-to-market is community-led: direct crisis-line outreach, partnerships with shelters and social services, awareness campaigns including the #DontIgnoreItAWHL video series, and referral partnerships with FEM'AIDE (French services) and Talk 4 Healing (Indigenous women's services). Revenue is not publicly disclosed; capacity-constrained demand, with up to 50% of peak-period callers unable to reach a counsellor, indicates structural under-funding rather than demand weakness.

Name

Assaulted Women's Helpline

Legal name

Assaulted Women's Helpline

Website

https://awhl.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Assaulted Women's Helpline is a Canadian non-profit founded in 1985 that operates Ontario's only 24-hour telephone, TTY, and SMS crisis line dedicated to women who have experienced abuse, serving approximately 93,000 women per year in over 200 languages free of charge.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Crisis Support Services (Domestic Violence Helpline)

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Domestic Violence & Abuse Support Services (BPAGAEAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Protection Services (GBV, Child Protection, Legal Aid) (BPADADAH)

Keywords

• Crisis support services
• Domestic violence helpline
• Women's safety services
• Senior abuse support
• Crisis counselling

Headquarters

HQ city

Etobicoke

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: The organization relies on individual donor contributions including one-time donations, monthly giving programs, and special occasion donations (weddings, memorials). Monthly giving provides predictable revenue for strategic planning.
2. United Way Designations: Donors can designate their United Way workplace contributions to the Assaulted Women's Helpline using charitable number 127624443 RR0001
3. Corporate Giving: Corporate partnerships and sponsorships from businesses supporting violence against women services across Ontario
4. Charitable Gaming: Revenue from charitable gaming at Rama Gaming House Toronto East location, joined January 2020, supporting community engagement and fundraising
5. Event Fundraising: Annual Constantine Yorkville Run charity event and third-party fundraisers generating community support and donations
6. Planned Giving: Legacy and planned gift donations from donors leaving long-term support for the organization

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Assaulted Women's Helpline provides a 24-hour telephone and TTY crisis line offering counselling, emotional support, safety planning, information, and referrals to women across Ontario who have experienced abuse. Services are available 7 days a week in over 200 languages through live interpretation, complemented by SMS text support (#SAFE/#7233). The organization also operates the Seniors Safety Line, a dedicated 24-hour helpline for Ontario seniors experiencing abuse or neglect, and delivers fee-based training workshops to workplaces and organizations on violence against women.

Product overview

Assaulted Women's Helpline is a crisis support organization offering a single unified service: a 24-hour telephone and TTY crisis line providing counselling, emotional support, information and referrals to women experiencing abuse. The organization operates the core Assaulted Women's Helpline (available in over 200 languages), the Seniors Safety Line (a specialized 24-hour line for seniors experiencing elder abuse), and a Training, Resource & Outreach Program offering educational workshops. The product portfolio centers on crisis intervention and prevention services rather than a software platform. Supplementary offerings include TTY accessibility services, social media security guidance, an online support portal (notalone.awhl.org), and the annual Constantine Yorkville Run fundraiser.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Assaulted Women's Helpline (Crisis Line Service) A 24-hour telephone and TTY crisis line offering counselling, emotional support, information, and referrals to women across Ontario who have experienced physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, financial abuse or neglect. Available in over 200 languages through interpretation services.
• Seniors Safety Line A 24-hour crisis and support line for Ontario seniors (60+) who have experienced any type of abuse or neglect, including female, male, two-spirit, trans or genderqueer seniors, persons with disabilities, immigrants, and persons of colour. Provides emotional support, safety planning, information, and referrals.
• Training Workshops and Seminars Fee-based workshops and seminars delivered on-site or virtually for workplaces and organizations, covering elder abuse, partner abuse, criminal harassment, intervention strategies, impacts of abuse on immigrant and refugee women, legal issues, and cross-cultural perspectives on violence against women.
• TTY/Teletypewriter Crisis Services TTY (Teletypewriter) crisis line services available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing survivors of abuse, including dedicated TTY lines for the GTA, Ontario-wide toll-free, and the Seniors Safety Line.
• SMS Text Support (#SAFE/#7233) Text-message-based crisis support accessible by texting #SAFE (#7233) from Bell, Rogers, Fido, or Telus mobile phones, providing an alternative channel for callers who cannot or prefer not to call.

Quantifiable outcome

• 93,000 women helped each year in Ontario
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Rama Gaming HouseminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2020AWHL joined the Rama Gaming House Toronto East group of charities in January 2020. This community-based charitable gaming program offers opportunities for community engagement, building awareness of services, and raising funds for outreach activities. Volunteers assist with greeting patrons, calling bingos, and promotional activities at the gaming centre located at 991 Kennedy Avenue, Scarborough, ON.
• United WaycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDonors can designate their United Way workplace contributions to the Assaulted Women's Helpline using charitable number 127624443 RR0001. United Way acts as a distribution channel for donations supporting the organization.
• Toronto Police ServicesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerToronto Police Services collaborated with the Assaulted Women's Helpline in a 2011 awareness campaign to raise awareness about domestic abuse.
• FEM'AIDEminorOthersFrench-language crisis line service for women experiencing violence in Ontario. Women requiring services in French are referred to FEM'AIDE at 1.877.336.2433.
• Talk 4 HealingminorOthersCulturally grounded helpline for Indigenous women. AWHL refers callers requiring culturally specific Indigenous services to Talk 4 Healing at 1.888.200.9997.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• FEM'AIDE: Ontario-wide French-language crisis line for women experiencing violence; AWHL directly refers French-speaking callers to FEM'AIDE, making it the closest functional peer on a service-by-service basis.
• Ontario Association of Interval & Transition Houses (OAITH): Provincial association coordinating Ontario's network of shelters for women experiencing violence; AWHL is a key referral partner within this network and shares the same survivor population and service mandate.
• Talk 4 Healing (Beendigen): Culturally grounded helpline for Indigenous women in Ontario; AWHL refers Indigenous callers to Talk 4 Healing, making it a closely comparable crisis-line peer serving an overlapping survivor population.
• Assaulted Women's Helpline - Seniors Safety Line: Wholly owned subsidiary of AWHL itself; the only other 24-hour crisis line specifically for seniors experiencing abuse in Ontario, with identical operating model and referral ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• Kids Help Phone: Canada's largest 24/7 e-mental health and crisis support service for youth; comparable in 24/7 multilingual crisis-line model and scale, though focused on a younger demographic.
• ConnexOntario: Provincial health-services information and referral helpline for mental health, addictions, and gambling in Ontario; comparable as a 24/7 multilingual crisis/referral line, though serving a broader clinical population.
• Canadian Women's Foundation: National public foundation funding violence-prevention and crisis-response programs for women and girls; comparable in sectoral focus and donor-driven funding model, though it operates as a grantmaker rather than direct service provider.
• YWCA Canada: National federation of women's shelter and crisis service providers across Canada; comparable in mission (violence against women response) and nonprofit funding model, though YWCA operates shelter facilities rather than phone-based crisis lines.

Regional players

• Alberta Council of Women's Shelters: Provincial umbrella for women's emergency shelters and violence-response services in Alberta; comparable in mandate (violence against women response) and nonprofit coordination role, but with a Western Canadian footprint.
• BC Society of Transition Houses: Provincial coordinating body for transition houses and violence-against-women services in British Columbia; mirrors AWHL's role in Ontario, with an analogous model but operating in a different province.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/awhl
• Facebookfacebook.com/AssaultedWomensHelpline
• Instagraminstagram.com/assaulted_womens_helpline
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/assaulted-women-s-helpline

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Assaulted Women's Helpline