Greetings from the Women’s Outreach Committee (WOC)! Please call on us if we may be of service to you in your efforts to carry the message of recovery to the sex addict who still suffers. The mission of the WOC is to carry the message, specifically, to the woman sex addict who still suffers. Here is why we feel that is important.
Some women struggle to feel a sense of hope in a program that currently has, proportionally, a small number of women. They may not see or hear their stories reflected in meetings with mostly, or all, men. They may wish to relate to women only and feel afraid of, triggered by, or angry at, men. Other women prefer to be around men and have strong negative feelings for women. Some have both, or neither! Although many of us on the WOC have had similar feelings, the message we wish to carry to women newcomers is that others have found the miracle of recovery in the fellowship as it currently exists, and they can too.
We keep in mind always that the solution in the SAA program is the same regardless of gender or any other identifying factors: meetings and the suggested Twelve Steps of recovery worked with a sponsor. Even so, to support the woman newcomer in staying with the program, we have developed some special resources for individual members and for groups:
Women’s literature: A Special Welcome to the Women Newcomer and Safe and Sexually Sober Meetings and the Women’s Welcome Packet. We encourage your meeting to keep a supply on hand.
Women’s only telemeetings. A full listing can be found on the SAA website under “Electronic Meetings.”
Women’s column (“Dear Grace”). This Q&A column, written by WOC members, appears in every issue of The Outer Circle
The Women’s Outreach List (The Grace List). This is a list of international women SAA members, who have chosen to share their contact information with each other, to support one another via phone and email. Women can request to join by emailing “Grace” at
Women’s page on SAA website. Information about many of these resources can be found at saa-women.org.
Women’s Welcome reception and Women’s Room at each annual ISO Convention. An ideal place for women to connect face-to-face with other recovering women SAA members.
Women’s Retreat. Under this initiative, the WOC has hosted five annual retreats. This initiative is now sponsored by the Women’s Intergroup (WIG). These retreats are open to all women SAA members.
Please reach out to us if we can support your group, or if you need more information about any of these resources. We also want to hear from you if you have ideas, suggestions, questions, or issues related to women in the fellowship. You can reach a member of our subcommittee by emailing us at the following email address:
Thank you for your time and attention, and for your dedication to carrying the message of recovery.
