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12 Steps, Traditions, and Promises

12 Steps

We admitted we were powerless over the assault, the effects of the assault, and that our lives had become unmanageable.
Came to believe that a loving higher power, greater than ourselves, could restore hope, healing and sanity.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of a loving higher power, as we understood that to be.
Made a searching and fearless inventory of ourselves, the assault, and its effects on our lives. We had no more secrets.
Admitted to a loving higher power, to ourselves, and to another human being our strengths and weaknesses.
We're entirely ready to have a loving higher power help us remove all the debilitating consequences of the assault and became willing to treat ourselves with respect, compassion and acceptance.
Humbly and honestly asked a loving higher power to remove the unhealthy and self-defeating consequences stemming from the sexual abuse.
Made a list of all the people we may have harmed (of our own free will), including ourselves, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Made direct amends to such people where ever possible, except when to do so would result in physical, mental, emotional or spiritual harm to ourselves or others.
Continued to take responsibility for our own recovery and when we found ourselves behaving in patterns still dictated by the assault, promptly admitted it.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with ourselves and a loving higher power as we understood that to be, asking only for knowledge of HP’s will for us and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other survivors and practice these principles in all our endeavors.

12 Traditions

Our common welfare should come first; personal progress for the greatest number depends on SSAA unity.
For group purposes there is but one authority – a loving higher power as may be expressed in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
The only requirement for membership is that you are the survivor of a sexual assault and that you desire to recover from it.
Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting another group or SSAA as a whole.
Each SSAA group has but one primary purpose – to carry its message to the survivor who still suffers.
Our SSAA group ought never to endorse, finance or lend the SSAA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property or prestige divert us from our primary spiritual aim.
SSAA strives to be fully self-supporting and will not accept contributions that compromise SSAA's autonomy or mission.
SSAA work should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
SSAA as such ought never be organized, but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
SSAA has no opinion on outside issues; hence the SSAA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, film, television and the internet.
Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

12 Promises

We will attain and maintain serenity
We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
We will not regret our part in the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
We will comprehend the word “serenity” and we will know peace.
No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.
That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.
We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in humanity.
Self-knowledge will blossom.
Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.
We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
We will suddenly realize that higher power is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.

SSAA Mission Statement

Our mission is to create emotionally safe environments around the world, where survivors can assemble to heal from the effects from having been a victim of sexual assault, abuse, and exploitation. Our group operates under the fundamental principles of trauma-informed peer support and those of our 12-step recovery program. We extend a warm welcome to everyone over the age of 18, regardless of skin color, age, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or gender identity. It is important to SSAA to create a space where every individual feels seen, heard, and valued in our community built by survivors.