Supportive Steps After a Sexual Assault
Did you know that roughly one in five women will report being a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime? Or that only 6% of rapists will ever spend a day in jail? This recent article from the NY Times discusses some important steps that can be taken after a sexual assault; to increase the likelihood of prosecution, and/or provide treatment for the victim.
Ideally, anyone who has been forced into a sexual act should be seen within 24 hours at a hospital emergency room where a specially trained team provides medical care and counseling, collects high-quality forensic evidence and supports often terrified victims who may — or may not — choose to pursue legal action.Do you know what to do if you or someone close to you becomes the victim of a sexual assault? A national survey released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that sexual assaults are far more common than previously believed, with nearly one woman in five reporting that she had been the victim of rape or attempted rape.
Unless you already know the best place to go, call a rape crisis hot line, regardless of the nature of the assault and even if the attack occurred days or weeks earlier. There’s a hot line in every community, according to Dr. Judith A. Linden, an emergency physician at Boston University School of Medicine, where she treats victims and trains medical personnel how to be sensitive and thorough in examining people who have been sexually assaulted.
You can find the nearest rape crisis treatment center, as well as free confidential information, support and referrals, by contacting the National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-HOPE (4673), or online at www.rainn.org, the Web site of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
Throughout the United States, mainly in metropolitan areas, there are about 650 centers at which a sexual assault nurse examiner or sexual assault response team provides services that not only offer proper care of victims but also increase the “likelihood that charges are filed and successfully prosecuted,” Dr. Linden wrote recently in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Her article was intended to help doctors who may not have received specialized training perform a proper examination that can minimize trauma for victims of sexual assault and increase the likelihood that perpetrators will be apprehended.
Whether the assailant was a stranger or, as occurs in 80 percent of cases, an acquaintance or relative, there are likely to be prior and future victims. On average, Dr. Linden said in an interview, sexual predators commit seven offenses before they are caught and imprisoned.
