How To Get Help After A Sexual Assault

Disclosure

After a sexual assault, you may want to talk to someone, seek medical or psychological care, or make a police report. You may want to do a combination or none of these things. It’s important to know what is required of the people with which you may share this information.

• College employees- are required to report all disclosures of sexual assault to the college’s Title IX Officer (create college link). So if you tell your coach or email an instructor, they are required to report the knowledge they have.

• Medical providers, including college health centers (create college link) under California law, if bodily injury occurred, a nurse or health center is required to report the assault to local law enforcement (create local link). If you want associated services such as pregnancy testing or infection testing, you may ask for those services specifically without saying why.

• College counselors (create local link)-You may think that talking to your college counselor means what you share is confidential. That may or may not be true, depending upon your counselor’s license and/or role at your college. If you are not sure, ask before sharing.

• Campus or community confidential advocate (create local link)- This person is trained and skilled in sexual assault support and advocacy, and what you tell them is confidential unless they are required by a court to disclose it. Again, if you are not sure, ask.

What Each Role Can Do For You

• Confidential Advocate- can provide support services without reporting the assault to your college or law enforcement. You can change your mind later if you want to make a report to your college or police or both. If you are not sure if your college or community has a confidential advocate, ask your Counseling Department, Health Center, or Title IX Officer.

• Title IX Officer-this person can assist you with campus safety concerns, discuss confidentiality, investigate the circumstances, provide resources and take action to end any harassment or violence. Sometimes this person is also the college Equity Officer.

• Campus police or local law enforcement-may also assist with campus and community safety concerns, discuss confidentiality, provide resources and refer to the district attorney for prosecution.

Help A Friend

People May Not Know What To Say. Here Are Some Suggestions:

• I believe you. / It took a lot of courage to tell me about this.
• You are not alone. / I care about you and am here to listen or help.
• It’s not your fault. / You didn’t do anything to deserve this.
• I’m sorry this happened. / This shouldn’t have happened to you.

The most important thing you can do is listen. Whatever you say, be honest and follow through. The aftermath of sexual assault lasts a long time.

To offer continued support, you can:

• Avoid judgment.
• Be patient.
• Check in periodically.
• Know your resources and encourage your friend to access them to their comfort level.
• Take care of yourself too. You can use the resources listed as well.

Medical Care

California law requires a health professional (other than a mental health counselor) to report sexual assault if the victim presents for care and has injuries from the assault or the professional suspects the person was injured as a result of a sexual assault, even if the victim does not wish to report.

If you are seeking care and wish to have an exam to collect evidence, try to avoid activities that could potentially damage evidence such as:

• • Bathing
  • Showering
  • Using the restroom
  • Changing clothes
  • Combing hair
  • Cleaning up the area

It’s natural to want to go through these motions after a traumatic experience. If you have done any of these activities, you can still have an exam performed. You may want to bring a change of clothes with you to the hospital or health facility. Your college health center may not be resourced to do this type of examination and will assist you in connecting with the appropriate providers.

Psychological Care

Psychotherapy, more commonly referred to as “therapy,” is an open, non-judgmental space to work through problems or challenges. In therapy, you may learn new coping skills, ways to deal with your feelings, and strategies for managing stress. You can also explore thoughts that you might not say out loud to a friend or family member. Your campus may have therapists available. If not, your Health Center or Counseling Center can connect you to local providers or you can contact your local Sexual Assault Support Center.

Sources

• After Sexual Assault Links to an external site.
• How Can Therapy Help Links to an external site.
• Centers Links to an external site.
• Tips on Talking to Survivors of Sexual Assault Links to an external site.

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