Need Help?

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, this is information about what you can do next. If you have any questions, or would like any assistance accessing these resources, call the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (617-495-9100). If you call after normal business hours or on a weekend, you will hear a message instructing you to call a 24-hour phone. Someone will answer immediately, or will call you back within 15 minutes, and you can then ask specific questions confidentially.

If you need help, first, get to a safe place...whatever that means to you. Your room, a friend's room, or any well-lit, comfortable, familiar place. It's ideal to have a friend with you, but first, your immediate safety if the most important thing.

Consider getting medical attention. Victims of sexual assault should consider getting medical attention for three different reasons:

1. To treat any injuries that may have occurred during the assault. Even if you do not 'feel' injured, you may have experienced bruising, lacerations, or internal injuries (particularly if you were forced to have vaginal or anal intercourse).
2. To obtain antibiotics to treat for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections and to access emergency contraception (optional; used to prevent pregnancy within 72 hours of unprotected penile/vaginal assault).
3. To provide for the possibility of collecting forensic evidence which may be used later if you decide to prosecute.

To obtain medical care:

During business hours you can seek assistance at the walk in clinic or after hours urgent care at Harvard University Health Services at 617-495-5711. You can also access medical care by calling the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response at 617-495-9100. After hours you can call either of these resources or the Response Peer Counseling Group between the hours of 9PM-8am at 617-495-9600. If you prefer, a friend may accompany you to provide support. Additionally, a staff of the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response can accompany you to UHS if you like.

If you know that you wish to have medical evidence collected, you can go directly to the Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center emergency room for this process. When you arrive at the emergency room, tell the intake assistant that you need to be seen for a sexual assault. They will escort you immediately to a private room and you will be met by a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, a nurse who is specially trained to perform the evidence collection. The Nurse will ask you if you want to report the assault at the Police-the choice is yours. The evidence can also be collected anonymously while you take some time to decide.

Why is evidence collection important?

• It is important to preserve any physical evidence that will be pivotal in prosecuting a rape or sexual assault. You have several months to decide if you wish to prosecute the assault, but having medical evidence may improve the strength of your case.
• You should not bathe, douche, change clothes, or remove anything from the area in which the incident occurred (bed linens, etc.). This will help preserve evidence in the event that you decide to prosecute. If possible, you should wear or bring the clothes with you to the hospital that you were wearing at the time of (or immediately after) the assault.
• As soon as possible, you should write down everything that can be recalled about the assault, including a physical description and/or name of the perpetrator, specifics about the use of force or threats, the location, time and date and the assault, and any witnesses or others who may have seen you immediately before or after the assault. This written account should be kept in a safe place and may be helpful to you later if you decide to bring charges against the perpetrator.

Reporting to Police:

Any member of the University community who believes he or she has been the victim of rape or another sexual offense is urged to report the incident to responsible Harvard officials, including the HUPD, the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, the Harvard University Health Services (HUHS), Amanda Sonis Glynn, Sexual Harassment Hearing Officer (617-496-8622), a Senior Tutor, a Sexual Assault/Sexual Harassment advisor, an Assistant Dean of Freshmen, or any other University counselor or designated administrator.

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