Where can I go for support

After a sexual assault, there are a range of services that you can choose to access and places that you can go.

Every person who experiences sexual assault may need a different form of support - it’s okay to be unsure of what you need. Some people will want to see a medical professional, such as a specialist NSW Sexual Assault Service, others will want to report what has happened to the police, and go through the judicial system. No matter what you want to do, it’s valuable to have people you trust, and feel affirmed by, around you.

Support can come from:

• Friends and family

• Partners

• Health professionals

• Specialised Sexual Assault Services

• Colleagues

• Anonymous counselling services like phone support  or web chat

• Private therapists or counsellors

• Police and legal services

When you feel able to, it can be helpful to open up to someone about what happened and ask them to help you find other avenues for support, e.g. telling a close friend, who can help you find a therapist; or telling a trusted doctor who can link you up to support services or help you tell people in your life. If you seek support from a health professional, Sexual Assault Service or counsellor, they will not contact police without your consent, unless your safety is at risk.

Learning how to let people in after experiencing sexual assault can feel like relearning how to trust people, or finding new boundaries and limits. It’s okay to take small steps, and approach this slowly and carefully.

Support is still available to you years after an assault, in fact many people don’t seek support until decades after an assault happens. There are also support options for adults who experienced sexual assault as children.

You can find a full list of support services on our I need support now page.

A Sexual Assault Service (SAS) is a specialist service in the NSW health system  that can support you if you have experienced sexual assault, or even if you think that you may have but aren’t sure. These services are staffed by specialists who understand the impacts of violence and who are trained to support you.

Sexual Assault Services can help you to understand more about your options, understand the impacts of violence, and work on strategies to cope with the impact of sexual assault.

Who will you talk to?

Counsellors: Sexual Assault Services are staffed by counsellors who are able to be with you every step of the way, from calling them on the phone before attending, to checking in and receiving support after your visit. These counsellors are specially trained, and are there to make things as easy and safe as possible for you – they are your advocate and support person while at a service, and are there to advocate for you and only you. This can include being in the room with you throughout your entire appointment, meeting you at an Emergency Department and advocating for you there, or helping to set you up with ongoing care and support after your visit.

Nurses or doctors: Sexual Assault Services will also have either a nurse or doctor on site. These medical professionals are also specially trained, and are there to support and look after you while making sure you’re okay. If you decide to do any testing or need any medication after an assault, it’s your nurse or doctor who will guide and support you through this process.

Your own support person: You are able to bring a support person of your own with you to a SAS, and they’re able to be in the room with you for almost as much or little of the visit as you’d like. For more information about your right to have a support person with you, visit the What are my rights page.

What your appointment might look like

When you go to a sexual assault service, you’ll be greeted by a counsellor and asked to fill out some paperwork. Any information collected throughout your appointment is confidential, and will only be shared with your consent.

You will be asked if you would like to chat with the counsellor and may be asked a few questions about how you’re doing, and if there’s any support you need right now or if you are in any risk of harm. When it’s just you and your counsellor talking, nothing that’s said is admissible as evidence to a court or to the police. That said, you are not required to explain what happened to you, this space is just about making sure you’re okay, or hearing and helping you if you’re not.

You can then see a doctor or nurse, who will take you through the rest of your consult. Your counsellor can be in the room throughout this process and help advocate for you if you need.

This consultation may take up to a few hours, but only a very small part of that is a medical check-up, if you even want one. Most of it is talking with the doctor or nurse, answering some questions, and being given information and support.

Some of the questions can be a bit overwhelming or uncomfortable – you are able to say no to what’s happening at any point, and that’s okay.

As part of your consultation, you might be put in touch with other health or support services you can access if you want or need in future, including possible future health check-ups or STI testing, and ongoing physical and mental health support. If you’re unsure about something at any point, you can ask for clarification – this appointment is about you and your wellbeing.

Medical examination

A medical examination is to find and treat any medical problems that may arise from an assault, and to give you information and reassurance. A medical examination is just about making sure you are medically healthy and looked after. You can stop at any time.

A doctor or nurse may:

• Ask you about the assault, so any possible medical problems can be identified

• Ask you about any medical symptoms

• Ask you if you have any concerns

• Offer you medical treatment, if necessary

• Explain what follow up treatment might look like

• Document the examination and treatment

While seeing a doctor, you are not required to undergo any kind of medical investigation or inspection, including anything to do with your body, or genitals. A doctor cannot conduct an examination without your permission, and it is okay to say no. You can ask why a doctor is doing the particular examination or test or ask if there’s an alternative way to do it that would feel more comfortable or safe.

You are also able to ask your counsellor to help advocate for you in this way, and step in, eg. If you know you will be uncomfortable with anything to do with your genitals, you can let your counsellor know beforehand and they can be firm with the doctor or nurse about your needs and safety.

Your doctor may also talk to you about the testing for STIs. If the assault occurred recently, you may need to return at a later date to be able to test for all of the most common STIs.

If you can get pregnant, your doctor may also talk to you about any risk of pregnancy and can prescribe you the emergency contraceptive pill and provide information about it. If you’re still concerned about pregnancy risk, especially if you do not regularly menstruate, you can do a pregnancy test in a month or so to be sure, and the doctor or nurse will provide information about how and when to do this.

Medical forensic examination

A forensic examination is done to collect evidence for court or for the police. It is a little bit different to a medical examination, because it is to find evidence, rather than for your own health and wellbeing.

You are not required to have a forensic examination in order to access support.

The examination kit (sometimes known as a ‘rape kit’) contains checklists, a clinical notebook, instructions, and materials for collecting samples from you. Even after the examination is collected, you can choose to not provide it to the police, and the kit will be stored for up to three months, and then destroyed. You can usually stay in contact with the service that conducted your forensic examination and ask them to hold onto it longer if you are unsure.

If you want to undergo a medical forensic examination, you can call ahead to a hospital or Sexual Assault Service to make sure they have a sexual assault clinician available - you can ask a friend, doctor or mental health professional to make that call for you, and you can take a support person with you to the appointment.

Not all hospitals have the capacity to do forensic examinations, and NSW Health have a list of the services that do.

When collecting a forensic examination, a doctor or nurse may:

• Ask you about the assault in order to know where to take swabs or look for injuries

• Examine your body for any marks, such as bruises or scratches and record these

• Take swabs from the genitals, mouth, or other parts of your body that may contain DNA evidence

• Take a mouth swab to collect your DNA

• Take clothing to check for DNA evidence (you won’t usually get these back)

• Provide written information about the examination for the testing laboratory and the police

This information can then only be processed by the police.

Even when undergoing a forensic examination, you can still withdraw or not provide consent to things at any time, and that’s okay eg. If you prefer not to have genital swabs done, or if you don’t want a certain item of clothing taken as evidence

You will have an opportunity to sign a consent form for the examination, and either:

• Sign a consent form for the SAS that took the forensic examination to give the evidence to the police

  or

• Ask the SAS to hold the evidence in a safe place until you’re ready to make that decision

A forensic examination is free, even if you are visiting Australia or don’t have a Medicare card. You will be able to shower and debrief with a sexual assault counsellor, and the SAS will also give you clean clothes, if you need them.

If your friend or someone you know has told you that they have experienced sexual assault, it is normal to feel unsure about what to do, and it can also be very distressing to hear about what has happened.

Say It Out Loud have developed the Bystander Toolkit, a downloadable resource that walks you through ways that you can respond to help a friend who is a victim of sexual assault.

You can also access help and support from specialist sexual assault services for yourself, to help you find ways to provide support, and to manage your own response to what has happened.