Parallels between Mental Heath and Sexual Violence Advocacy

Confidentiality
Someone says they've been sexually assault? You don't share that information!
Someone says they have a mental illness? You don't share that information!
The ONLY reason to break confidentiality is if that person is an immediate threat to themselves, and even in that case you only tell another professional.

Let the person seeking help do it at their own pace.
There are tons of reasons why someone doesn't want to leave their abusive partner, remember all those four letter words? Fear, love, cash, kids, hope? Advocates need to respect this and not further disempower a victim/survivor by taking away their power of choice.
There are also tons of reasons why someone with a mental illness doesn't want to seek help. Perhaps some of those same four letter words? Fear, cash, hope? It is extremely disempowering to force a person with a mental health problem to seek services and accommodations before they are ready.

Working with the system is painful, triggering, and confusing.
The legal system is not friendly to rape survivors, or other victims of gender based violence. A women is forced to tell her story repeatedly and her case is unlikely to ever make it to trial. Many survivors choose to not going through the court system because it's too difficult with very little payoff.
The disability services institutions are not friendly to the mentally ill. There are dozens of hoops to jump through to prove a disability. The process is time consuming and emotionally draining. In many cases registering a disability is difficult to take on alone, and there are too few advocates to help someone through the process.

Listen, Support, Believe. Lying is extremely rare.
Myth: Women lie about being raped. False reports of sexual assault are rare. Rape is also the most underreported violent crime in the country. Part this is related to stigma; coming forward as a victim of sexual assault opens a women up to a series of victim blaming questions. Why was she there? What was she wearing? How much did she have to drink? Many women choose to not go through this and hide their survivor status. Why would someone who has not been sexually assaulted decide to be put in this position?
In the same fashion, people rarely lie about having a mental illness. They may joke about having OCD, or misunderstand what is classified as clinical depression, but most people who come forward with a mental illness have a real problem. There is a stigma around mental illness as well; once people learn an individual is mentally ill that person is open to all kinds of speculation and analysis. Why would a person without a mental illness open themselves to that kind of judgement?

Sexual assault and domestic violence advocates: you clearly understand these concepts in relation to victims and survivors. It's not difficult to see the similarities and find empathy for people with mental illness as well. In everything in social justice there are intersections of oppression and as advocates we have a responsibility to recognize those intersections and address them.