Note: If you need to leave this page quickly, click on escape.
Caution! Computer and Internet activity can be monitored. If you are being abused or stalked it may be safer for you to use a computer a perpetrator does not have access to (e.g., Open Access Lab). If you need to leave this page quickly, click on escape near the top and bottom right of this page and you will be redirected to Google.com. For more information call the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) at (800) 799-SAFE (7233), (800) 787-3224 (TTY); or visit the NDVH or CyberAngels online on a safer computer.
- General Tips
- Tips for Talking to Victims of Recent Assaults
- What Not to Do When Helping a Sexual Assault Victim
General Tips
- Find a private place where you can talk with the survivor. Maximize the survivor’s comfort and confidentiality.
- Be compassionate and caring.
- Listen to the survivor and ascertain why she/he has come to you and what they need or want from you.
- Believe what you are hearing. Listen in a nonjudgmental manner. Do not make assumptions. Inform the survivor that the assault was not her/his fault and that no one does anything to deserve or justify a sexual assault or other abuse.
- Be honest about how much you can help. Let the survivor know what your role is (e.g., provide information about their rights and available victim support resources and services, assist with law enforcement notification, if requested).
- Encourage the survivor to report the assault to law enforcement.
- Encourage the survivor to seek medical care even if there are no apparent injuries.
- Ask if she/he wants assistance notifying University Police, a rape treatment center, the Student Health Center, the Office for Equity and Diversity, or Judicial Affairs. Offer to accompany the survivor if she/he wants to go to another location on campus, if you are able to do so.
- If you are a Campus Security Authority inform the survivor of your legal reporting obligations.
- Allow the survivor to make her/his own decision about what she/he will do next.
Tips for Talking to Victims of Recent Assaults
Especially for assaults that have occurred within the past 72 hours:
- Encourage the survivor to report her/his assault to law enforcement.
- Encourage the survivor to go to a hospital emergency room to have a forensic exam performed. Even if the victim has showered or bathed there may still be evidence of the assault present. Inform the survivor that the forensic exam can be done anonymously without having to report the assault to the police. Also inform the survivor that she or he will want to have a change of clothing (including shoes) available.
- Suggest that she/he preserve evidence. Evidence may be preserved by saving everything that was worn at the time of the assault in separate brown paper bags; resisting the temptation to douche, bathe, brush teeth; and not disturbing the area where the assault occurred.
- Suggest documenting the assault and keeping a copy of any records related to the assault (e.g., medical records and photographs). This is helpful if the survivor decides to file a police report in the future.
- Encourage the survivor to receive medical care. She/he can be checked for injuries and tested and treated for sexually transmitted infections, screened for pregnancy, and offered emergency contraception, as appropriate.
- Inform the survivor that she/he has the right to have a sexual assault victim advocate or other support person of their choice with her/him during investigative interviews with the police, representatives of the district attorney's office and the defense attorney. The survivor may also request support during forensic and medical exams.
What Not to Do When Helping a Sexual Assault Victim
Don't...
- Blame the victim. Responsibility lies with the perpetrator of the crime. Many acquaintance rapes are planned in advance, and perpetrators make a conscious decision to violate their victims.
- Ask “why” questions like: “Why did you go to his room?” Questions like these place blame on victims and not on the person responsible for committing the criminal act.
- Tell the survivor what she/he must do. This takes away her/his control...again. The survivor is in the best position to know what is best for her/him.
- Imply that it wasn’t a “real” rape because she/he knew the perpetrator, had sex with the perpetrator before, or had initially been engaged in consensual sexual activity with the perpetrator before the crime was committed. According to California Law, nonconsensual sex is rape.
References
Rights of Victims and Witnesses of Crime, California Penal Code §679-680 (1986). Retrieved January 14, 2008, from California Law at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov
East Los Angeles Women’s Center. (2000). Rape and battering hotline volunteer handbook.
Violence against women and the department of justice reauthorization act of 2005, 42 U.S.C. §3796gg-4 (2005). Retrieved June 5, 2008, from the Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. Department of Representatives at http://uscode.house.gov/