Poland.
Here is a list of the most important telephone numbers and helplines for women in Poland. Most are free, anonymous, and open 24/7.
National Helplines
Blue Line (Counteracting Domestic Violence)
Telephone number: 800 120 002
Availability: 24/7, free of charge.
Operated by the Institute of Health Psychology of the Polish Society of Psychologists (PTP). It offers psychological support, legal advice, and information on local helplines for people affected by domestic violence (victims, witnesses, and perpetrators).
Police Helpline for Victims of Domestic Violence
Telephone number: 800 120 226
Availability: Monday through Friday, 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM.
Police Headquarters Helpline.
Women’s Rights Center (CPK) – National Helpline
Telephone number: 600 070 717
Availability: Various days and hours for legal and psychological counseling (details on the CPK website).
Offers legal, psychological, and social counseling. Specializes in helping women experiencing violence. It has branches in several cities (Warsaw, Gdańsk, Wrocław, Łódź, Kraków, Żywiec).
Feminoteka Foundation – Telephone Counseling Center
Telephone numbers: 800 100 285 (anti-violence hotline) and 609 060 011 (helpline).
Offers psychological and legal support.
Helpline for Victims of Sexual Violence (Empowering Children Foundation):
Telephone number: 116 111 (for children and youth).
Emergency Number (in case of emergency)
In the event of an immediate threat to life, health, or safety:
Emergency Number: 112
Police: 997
Fire Brigade: 998
Ambulance Service: 999
Local and Specialist Numbers
It is also worth checking your local Crisis Intervention Centers (OIK) or Municipal Social Welfare Centers (MOPS), which have phone numbers for local shelters, lawyers, and psychologists in your city.
Poland has a long history of women’s organizations, from those operating before Poland regained independence to contemporary feminist organizations supporting victims of violence and advocating for legal and political equality.
Here are the most important women’s organizations and associations in Poland:
Major NGOs and Foundations
Women’s Rights Center (CPK):
Role: One of the most well-known and active organizations in Poland, founded in 1994.
Goal: Advocating for equal status for women and men, eliminating violence against women, and providing legal and psychological support to victims of domestic and sexual violence. It operates shelters, hotlines, and support groups in several cities.
Feminoteka Foundation:
Role: Dedicated to combating violence against women and conducting educational and cultural activities.
Goal: Operates a helpline, an anti-violence clinic, a bookstore, and an online portal promoting women’s creativity and perspectives.
Federation for Women and Family Planning:
Role: Brings together numerous member organizations and is a key player in the fight for reproductive rights. Goal: Promoting women’s reproductive and sexual rights, sex education, access to contraception, and legal abortion. Monitors compliance with the “abortion compromise” (and currently the abortion ban) and patient rights.
Women in the Net / Women’s Congress:
Role: An initiative that grew out of the annual Women’s Congress. It is a broad social and political movement.
Goal: Increasing women’s participation in public life, politics, and the economy, advocating for gender equality in all spheres of life.
Lambda Warsaw Association:
Role: Although it works for the LGBT+ community, the focus of its activities is support for all those vulnerable to discrimination, including lesbians, bisexual, and transgender women.
Goal: Operates a helpline and offers psychological and legal counseling.
“Dajemy Dzieciom Siłę” Foundation:
Role: Focuses primarily on children’s rights, but their activities (e.g., the helpline 116 111) include assistance to girls who have experienced sexual or emotional abuse.
Initiatives and Social Movements
Women’s Strike:
Role: A nationwide social movement that gained international recognition following protests against tightening abortion laws in Poland (“black protests”).
Goal: Defending women’s rights, secularizing the state, changing the current government, and fighting for reproductive rights. It operates as a grassroots initiative with a strong social resonance.
Government Institutions
Commissioner for Human Rights (RPO):
Role: Although not a women’s organization in the strict sense, the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights receives complaints from citizens regarding violations of human and civil rights, including cases of gender discrimination.
Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment:
Role: A state administration body responsible for coordinating activities promoting equal treatment in Poland.
WAGA Association (According to the Gender Agenda):
Mission: A local organization operating in Gdańsk, promoting equal treatment, social inclusion, and the fight against discrimination.
Business Women Leaders:
Mission: Promoting women’s entrepreneurship and supporting their career development. Activities: Mentoring, networking, training, conferences, and creating a platform for exchanging experiences among businesswomen.
The Polish Women’s League:
The Polish Women’s League is an Association of women, regardless of their worldview, beliefs or membership in other social organizations, political parties, churches or religious associations, who want to work for the benefit of women and their families (§ 1 of the LKP Statute)
Polskie Stowarzyszenie Kobiet Biznesu:
The Polish Association of Businesswomen is a hub for entrepreneurship. Do you run a business? Do you work in a management position? We’ve created a community that answers your questions. PSKB is about sharing experiences, educating, and supporting women at various stages of their careers. We organize Champions’ Breakfasts and the PSKB Academy, as well as other events for entrepreneurs. Join other women and showcase your brand. Promote your activities and support other women.
Kobiety na Swoim (Women on Their Own):
The Association’s mission is to work towards comprehensive education for women, and in particular to promote women’s participation in social, political and professional life, and to counteract gender discrimination in all areas of life.
LiderShe:
We work to promote women’s professional and personal development. We support professionally active Polish women so that they have the courage to take on challenges in business, society, and life.