Women
Most of the harm still falls here, and most services were built for it. We add what is usually missing: time, follow up, and someone who stays past the crisis.
Nopa Foundation
Abuse ends where someone finally listens.
We stand with survivors of domestic abuse of every gender and every age. Women, men, elders and children. Confidential support, safety planning, and help finding what you actually need, at no cost and at your pace.
In immediate danger? Call 911. For confidential 24 hour support, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline on 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788.
Need to talk to someone today? You do not have to have decided anything.
Carry the help with you
Scan to put Nopa Foundation on your phone
Point your camera at the code, open the link, then choose Install app or Add to Home Screen. It opens like any other app, with helplines, warning signs and reporting guidance a single tap away. Delete it any time.
Our mission
Nopa Foundation exists to end domestic abuse and to stand with the people living through it. Not only women, though women carry most of it. Men, elders, children, and anyone whose home has stopped being a safe place. We do this by listening first, by telling the truth about what abuse is, and by building the partnerships that make a different outcome possible.
The lay of the land
The scale of it, from sources that publish their method
Every figure on this site is attributed. We use the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and United Nations reporting, and we name the publication so you can check it yourself.
1 in 3
women worldwide, about 840 million, have been subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner, or sexual violence by someone else, in their lifetime
World Health Organization, 2023 prevalence estimates1 in 6
men in the United States, about 20.7 million, have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 in 6
people aged 60 and over experienced some form of abuse in a community setting in the past year
World Health Organization, abuse of older people$3.6tn
estimated lifetime economic cost of intimate partner violence in the United States, across health care, lost work and criminal justice
Peterson et al., cited by CDC NISVSWho we are for
Abuse is not a single story
A service that can only recognise one kind of victim quietly chooses who gets left behind. We build every programme so that all four of these groups are named from the start.
Men
More than one in six men in the United States have experienced partner violence or stalking. Almost none expect to be believed. Here, you will be.
Elders
Control of money, medication and post, usually by an adult child or carer. It is rarely called domestic abuse, and that is part of why it lasts.
Children and young people
They heard it, whatever the adults tell each other. One steady, trustworthy adult changes the outcome more than anything else we know of.
Understanding the harm
Abuse takes many shapes, and each one is real
Beyond the forms most people recognise, survivors and advocates confront trafficking, stalking, forced marriage, spiritual abuse, female genital mutilation, and more. Each page below defines the harm, names the warning signs, and points to where you can get help.
Is this happening to me?
Signs worth taking seriously
You do not need every one of these, and you do not need a bruise. If two or three feel familiar, that is reason enough to talk to somebody.
Talk to someone- You change your behaviour to avoid a reaction, and you have been doing it so long it feels normal.
- They check your phone, your car mileage, your bank statements, or your location.
- Friends and family have quietly fallen away, and it was not really your decision.
- Money is controlled, hidden, or used as a punishment.
- You are blamed for their anger, and afterwards you find yourself apologising.
- Threats are made about children, immigration status, pets, or exposure to your community.
- You have been hurt physically, even once, and it was explained away.
- You feel afraid in your own home, and you cannot say exactly why.
What we do
Our programmes
How we work
Four things we do not compromise on
Believe first
The first response a survivor receives shapes everything that follows. We start from belief, and we never ask anyone to prove what happened to them.
Safety before advice
Leaving is the most dangerous moment in an abusive relationship. We plan for safety at your pace, and we do not push anyone toward a decision.
Every survivor counts
Women, men, elders, children, of any background or gender. Abuse is not a single story, and a service that only recognises one version fails the rest.
Partnership over territory
We refer generously, we share what we learn, and we measure ourselves by what happens to a person, not by which logo was on the door.
Where we are heading
What we are trying to change
Reach people earlier
Most survivors live with abuse for years before they contact any service. We want the first honest conversation to happen sooner, and to happen well.
Include everyone who is being harmed
Men, elders and children are consistently under-served. We build every programme so those groups are named and provided for from the start, not added later.
Make referrals that hold
A phone number is not a service. We follow people through the handover and check, a week later, that something actually happened.
Change the rooms where decisions are made
Congregations, workplaces, clinics and police. When those rooms respond well, fewer people ever reach crisis.
From the Editorial Team
Reading and guidance
Give
Money is one of the reasons people stay
Bus fare. A deposit. A filing fee. A phone the other person cannot track. Your gift removes those obstacles one at a time.
Nopa Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) tax exempt organisation.