Make a real difference for victim-survivors of sexual violence by helping to grow the income of the Midlands Sexual Assault Support Service Fund.

Victim-survivors of sexual violence don’t want to talk about what’s happened to them, so it is critical they can safely tell their story once, and once only, to get the immediate help and ongoing support they need.

“The first door they knock on has to be the right door,” said Dr Kate Taylor, Trust Chair of the Midlands Sexual Assault Support Service (MSASS) when the Fund was first established in 2023.

“Victim-Survivors don’t have the capacity to advocate for themselves, you can’t send them elsewhere, they won’t make a second call. Our service ensures they get support, without having to repeat themselves.”

The MSASS team don’t ‘heal people’. They create the room, and provide the tools, needed for people to heal themselves.

In the words of one victim-survivor: "The space has been held so gently, creating safety which makes space for vulnerable sharing, which brings such healing, as we are seen and validated, feeling heard heals trauma - telling our story".

The need for MSASS services is significant - sexual violence is much more prevalent than most people believe. A New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey in the early 2020s said that 78,000 adults, some 1.9% of the adult population, one in fifty, had been subjected to sexual violence in the last year.

The percentages are even higher for some population groups, particularly young women, and these numbers don’t include children and youth.

In February 2026, MSASS opened a purpose-designed service centre at 87 Clarence St in Hamilton – a single-entry point to a ‘one-stop shop’, pictured above.

Under one roof are medical support for victim-survivors of sexual harm (the Waikato Sexual Assault Assessment and Treatment Service), non-fatal strangulation and suffocation assessment, and MSASS’s own prevention education, social work, counselling and therapy services.

It is a place of light and hope, of validation, of healing, strength, and recovery.

The investment income from the Midlands Sexual Assault Support Service Fund at Momentum Waikato goes into sustaining and expanding the service’s ability to help victim-survivors.

Do you want to support the critical front-line service that directly assists victim-survivors of sexual violence in the Waikato?

Please donate to the Midlands Sexual Assault Support Service Fund, at the top right.

If you would like to visit or contact Midlands Sexual Assault Support Service, it is at 87 Clarence Street in Hamilton and 0800 839 4433.

Read and see more about Midlands Sexual Assault Support Service and it’s Fund.

Keeping the ‘right door’ open for survivors of sexual violence - April 2023.

Only having to tell the story once - May 2024.

Frontline support for victims of sexual violence now under one roof - April 2026.