After you have experienced harm, you may have concerns about safety, health, disclosure, and getting support and care. You can review this information or you can call the Sexual Assault Response Line (401-863-6000) for a confidential counselor who can help you navigate these choices.

Safety First

You might want to consider safety first. If you feel unsafe:

• Go to a secure place as soon as you can and consider asking someone you trust to stay with you.

• If you need immediate emergency assistance, call Brown EMS (401.863-4111) or 911.  

Immediate Considerations

Another immediate consideration might include preserving evidence of the incident. If you are able, try to avoid drinking or eating, bathing, showering, cleaning your genital area (or using a product designed for genital hygiene), brushing your teeth, or changing your clothes. Evidence can be collected at a hospital emergency room, as well as testing for drugs and alcohol.  You can decide later whether or not you want to make a police report or press criminal charges. The First Five Days page has more detailed information about immediate considerations. 

Medical Care

Consider getting medical care. Options for care include Student Health Services, hospital emergency rooms, or other care facilities (ex, Planned Parenthood). This can be important even if you do not have any physical injuries. Medical care can include testing and treatment for STIs, drug screening, pregnancy prevention and options counseling, and evidence collection. All services, with the exception of evidence collection and drug screening, are available at Health Services. For a detailed description of what services are available at different healthcare facilities and what might happen during a medical exam, see the Medical Care and the Forensic Exam section below.

If You Think You Were Drugged

If you think you were drugged or consumed a sedative-like substance, ask the medical provider at the hospital to take a urine sample. Predatory drugs like GHB and Rohypnol are more likely to be detected in urine than in blood. If you still have remnants of the drink, save them for analysis. Since many of these drugs clear the system quickly, a negative test result does not necessarily mean that no drug was involved.

Time Sensitivity

There may be some time sensitive medical concerns, particularly within the first five days after an incident. For ongoing emotional support and care, talk with a counselor who is trained to assist victims of sexual assault. You can call one of the resources listed on this page.

Even if you have no apparent injuries, it is still a good idea to consider medical care. Going to a health care facility, even though it might be difficult, is an important way for you to start taking care of yourself. You can decide what medical care you want or don't want. You may come to Student Health Services or you may go to any hospital you choose. If you need to be transferred from Health Services to another emergency care site, transport options are available and a SHARE Advocate can help you to access them.

At the Hospital

At the hospital, you will be asked questions about your general health. If you are someone who could become pregnant, you will be asked about your menstrual history and your use of contraception. You will also be asked specific questions about the assault. It may be difficult to recall some of the details, and it may be emotionally painful to talk about what happened. Medical providers ask specific questions to find out what to look for when they examine you. The information you give helps them conduct a thorough and appropriate physical evaluation.

Physical Exam

Then you can choose to have a physical exam. The clinician will check for external and internal injuries and test for any sexually transmitted infections. You may be given antibiotics to prevent infection. A pregnancy test will be done if appropriate and you will be given emergency contraceptive pills to prevent unintended pregnancy.

Physical Evidence

The medical providers will, with your permission, collect physical evidence to be used if you decide to prosecute. Collecting this physical evidence,during a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam is often called collecting a "rape kit." This cannot be done at Health Services, but must be done at an emergency room or hospital. Depending on the types of sexual contact that occurred, the search for physical evidence may include taking samples from the vagina, mouth, or rectum to test for sperm cells and semen. Other evidence may be obtained from fingernail scrapings, foreign matter on your body, and the clothes you were wearing at the time of the assault.

Confidential

All exam findings are completely confidential and can only be released with your written consent. If you have visible injuries, you may be asked to have photographs taken. Photographing injuries is important because by the time your assailant is prosecuted, the injuries may have healed.

Reporting to the Police

Going to the hospital does not mean that you have to make a report to the police. That is your choice. The hospital staff will probably ask you to come back for a follow-up checkup. Or, you follow up with a medical provider of your choice. A counselor will be available to talk with you. Additional ongoing counseling will be available to you through the support resources of your choice.

It is up to you whether or not you share information about your experience. It is normal for people to have different needs about whether to disclose, when and who they talk to about an experience. Some people want to talk about what happened right away, while others may go days, weeks, months, or even years and many never disclose to anyone, including their closest friends or loved ones.

Examples

Here are some examples of people you may choose to talk to in your support network:

• Hotline services
• Friends
• Family members and chosen family
• Police/Legal (see information about reporting, below)
• Health care providers
• School employees
  • Confidential resources
  • Non-confidential resources (see information about reporting, below)
    • Responsible Employees
    • Other (non-designated)
• Community Members
  • Faith communities
  • Art communities
  • Sports communities
  • Shared interest/Shared identity/Affinity groups
  • Online Communities

Why

People talk about their experiences of being harmed for a variety of reasons. Sometimes people only want support and care for understanding and processing their experience. There are several confidential resources on and off campus to assist you in determining your options for reporting, as well as gaining emotional support.

Sometimes people want an official response from an organization (e.g. reporting), such as a school or law enforcement agency and in order to learn about options and take steps to feel safe. People may also want to encourage behavior change, and/or try to get justice or accountability from someone who has harmed them. Any of these reasons are valid, as well as ones that are not listed here, and can be accessed by reporting the incident. You may choose to tell anyone you want, although some people may have the responsibility to report that information to others. You might tell a staff member (e.g., RPLs, coaches, other staff on campus) or faculty member of the University. It is important to know that many staff and faculty will be required to report the incident to the Title IX Office. The Title IX office will make sure that you have a list of resources but you will not need to move forward with a formal report to the University unless you choose to do so. This information is kept private, and will be only shared on a “need to know” basis. Something to keep in mind when you tell friends or family members is that someone who cares about you may have their own emotional process regarding the incident.

Often people who have been hurt do not want to report their experience or do not know what they want. However, these folks may still want or need support and care. They may want to talk about options without taking actions, discuss what happened, get emotional, physical, mental, academic, housing help or support and more.

If you are interested in reporting, there are different options. You can choose any or all of these.

University Response

If you are looking for a University response, you might go directly to the Title IX office or tell a responsible employee.

Police Response

You might tell Brown's Department of Public Safety or the Providence Police if you want to report a crime.

• It could be helpful to write down, or have a friend write down, everything you can remember about the incident including a physical description of the perpetrator, their identity if you know it, and the use of threats, force or coercion, such as asking repeatedly, pressuring you, getting you to drink a lot or take drugs, etc.
• If you want to report the crime, notify Brown's Department of Public Safety at 401-863-4111 or contact Providence Police. For some, reporting the crime can help regain a sense of personal power and control.
• Reporting a crime is not the same as pressing criminal charges. If you decide to report, it does not mean you have to move forward with a criminal case.

Often, expanding one’s support network after an experience of harm can be beneficial.  There are a a number of spaces on and off campus where you can find services and access to community and social support.

You may find that as a result of an adverse experience, you may have more difficulty completing coursework than previous to the event. There are a number of resources available to help support you if this should be the case.

Whether through formal processes such as the justice system, or via informal community-based methods, people who have been harmed can find the types of accountability they are looking for.