Even with such prevalent statistics, however, not many people are actually familiar with the resources available to them or the steps they should take if they were to become a victim of sexual assault.
An immediate response to sexual assault should consist of the following:
- Finding safety (call 911 if you are in immediate danger).
- Preserving evidence.
- Deciding your course of action.
While these steps may seem daunting in a time of crisis, it gets easier when you know where to look for help.
“Getting to the emergency department is really critical after a sexual assault,” explains Melissa Harper, a Carilion Clinic forensic nurse examiner. “We want to make sure a victim doesn’t have any life-threatening injuries. Once we provide that care, we help them to take a moment and sort through all of their options to decide what they want to do next.”
After out of harm’s way, there is a 72-hour window of time in which DNA evidence can be preserved. In that same timeframe, the sooner you can get to the emergency department, the better. Before coming, a victim is encouraged to avoid things like showering, washing hands, washing clothes, eating, drinking, smoking and going to the bathroom for the sake of evidence preservation.
Upon arriving at the emergency department, sexual violence victims get checked for any life-threatening injuries. They are then taken to the forensic nurse examiner office where the forensic team gets to work.
“We want to try to bring down the trauma response as quickly as we can,” said Harper. “A lot of it is just talking to people – letting them know that they’re safe, letting them know that you care…Once they’re comfortable, we start by getting basic medical information.”
A forensic nurse will record a general medical history, documenting things like allergies, possible medications, etc., and then proceed with a history of the event itself.
This step takes longer for some than others. Forensic nursing teams understand its significance for a patient, and let victims tell their story in their own time. This is not done with the intent to make a victim relive the incident. Rather, this helps the nurses better prep for a forensic examination.
“Once they tell us the history, we talk about options. We talk about whether they want evidence collected, emergency contraception, the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, and then we discuss whether or not they want to call the police,” said Harper.
Medical professionals are only legally obligated to report a sexual assault to police if the suspected victim is a child or an elderly or disabled adult. Otherwise, it is completely up to the discretion of a victim.
When the victim is ready, the forensic nursing team carries out a full-body exam to document any injuries the victim may have sustained.
“After they’ve gone through the entire exam, we give them any medications they may need, schedule follow-up appointments, and give them a folder full of all of the information that we went over as well as additional education materials and contact information if they wanted to seek out additional help or counseling,” said Harper.
Reporting to the emergency department is the best bet after a sexual assault. Not only do you receive medical care in a safe and confidential environment, but you are given the opportunity to have a dialogue about all of your options moving forward – medical, legal and personal.
“We want to get victims from feeling like they’re drowning to going the other direction and feeling much better,” said Harper. “A lot of people come in feeling like it’s the darkest, worst day of their life… but it’s rare that someone doesn’t leave our forensic room a different person.”
