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Sexual Violence | If
you have been assaulted in the past five days |
How to help a friend |
Reporting |
Resources for students
If you have been sexually assaulted in the past five days
The first thing you should do if you have been sexually
assaulted is find a safe place away from your attacker. You
may want to call a friend to provide support and to help
you get the care you need.
You may be in shock, or you may feel a range of emotions
including anger, fear, sadness, shame, powerlessness, self-blame,
embarrassment, and/or isolation. Many survivors experience
these feelings after an assault. There are many services
available at MIT and in the community that provide counseling,
medical care, and other types of support.
You do not have to report the assault or press charges to
get medical care. However, evidence can only be collected
during the first five days following the assault. Even if
you are not sure about pressing charges, evidence can be
collected and stored for up to six months.
Counseling and support services are available at anytime
after the assault. Please see Resources for students for
more information.
Remember, it is not your fault. No matter what the
circumstances are surrounding your assault, it is not your
fault.
Preserving Evidence
Sexual assault is a very traumatic event, and you may not
immediately know if you will press charges against the person
who assaulted you. Preserving clothing and other physical
evidence does not mean you have to report the assault. The
evidence may be sent anonymously to the crime lab and kept
for up to six months.
Your clothes and bedding may also contain evidence. Place
them in a paper bag (not plastic) and take it with you to
the emergency room. Showering, brushing your teeth, and urinating
may destroy evidence. You should try to wait until after
the evidence collection is performed in the emergency room
before showering, urinating, or brushing your teeth.
Transportation
MIT Police will escort you to MIT Medical, to a sexual
assault nurse examiner (SANE) site, to your home, or to another safe
place in an unmarked car if it is available. This does not
mean you have to report the assault.
Evidence Collection
MIT Medical can provide treatment and resources but is not
equipped to provide evidence collection kits. You must go
to a sexual
assault nurse examiner (SANE) site to have evidence collected
and stored. MIT Medical usually refers patients to the SANE
site at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, but there
are others in the area if you prefer. Campus Police can escort
you to the SANE site or MIT Medical can provide you with
cab vouchers, whichever you choose.
The nurses at SANE
sites are trained specifically to treat
victims of sexual assault. They can provide treatment and
collect evidence. You must go to a SANE site to have evidence
collected.
Evidence from a sexual assault may be collected up to five
days after the assault has happened. SANE
nurses use evidence
collection kits to obtain and preserve evidence from a sexual
assault. They collect evidence internally and externally
while doing a physical exam. The exam is tailored to both
men and women. You may refuse any part of the exam that makes
you feel uncomfortable. Although survivors may choose not
to press charges immediately, evidence collected may be useful
in prosecuting a sexual assault in the future. The hospital
will hold the evidence kit for up to six months if you choose
to have evidence collected but not to press charges immediately.
You are encouraged to seek medical care at any point in
time after an assault; however, an evidence collection kit
can not be performed after five days have passed. It is difficult
to obtain evidence after five days.
Medical Care
If you have been assaulted in the past five days you may
seek medical care and counseling at MIT Medical or any area
hospital. If you would like evidence collected you must go
to a SANE
site.
Both MIT Medical and SANE sites will provide excellent care
and access to emergency contraception, antibiotics, pregnancy
testing, and testing for sexually transmitted infections
(STIs). SANE nurses may also provide toxicology tests if
you think you may have been drugged. You will not be charged
for care provided by MIT Medical or SANE nurses; however
emergency room charges may be associated with care provided
outside of MIT Medical. Should you seek care at a SANE site,
staff from that site will contact a Medical Advocate from
the Boston
Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) to provide support,
referrals, and information to you and your family.
Toxicology testing
If a survivor of a sexual assault suspects that he or she
has been drugged, a toxicology screen through urine or blood
analysis may be done at the hospital. A urine or blood sample
for toxicology screening should be taken as soon as possible
after an assault. Samples will usually only be taken up to
48 hours after the assault.
There are two ways survivors who have submitted samples
for toxicology analysis may obtain the results:
If the case was reported to the police, the survivor
must go through the district attorney's office to obtain
the results. When a case is reported to the police, all evidence
collected, including toxicology analysis, become the state's
property.
If the case was not reported to the police, the survivor
may be eligible to obtain the results of a toxicology analysis
from an anonymous hotline. To be eligible, the survivor must
meet the following criteria:
- a toxicology kit was done as part of the
evidence collection kit,
- the assault was not reported to the police,
and
- it has been at least six weeks since the
evidence collection kit was completed.
If a survivor meets the above criteria, she or he may call
866-269-4265 with her or his kit number to obtain the results.
A survivor may report the assault to the police after receiving
the toxicology screening results.
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