Get Help

First Five Days After an Assault

Decisions about your safety

DECISIONS ABOUT YOUR SAFETY

Go to a safe place as soon as you can and ask someone you trust to stay with you.
Brown students can call the Sexual Assault Response Line (401.863-6000) for immediate medical, counseling or police assistance. If you want to report the crime, notify Brown's Department of Public Safety immediately at 401.863-4111. For some, reporting the crime can help regain a sense of personal power and control.
A campus advocate will be available to accompany you. (More information on this resource below.)
If you are away from Brown, call 911 or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE.
Try to preserve all evidence of the assault. Avoid drinking, bathing, showering, douching, brushing your teeth, or changing your clothes. Evidence can be collected at an emergency room and you can decide later whether or not you want to press criminal charges.
Try 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 or force.
You can have evidence collected (Rape Kit) at a nearby hospital and decide later whether you want to press charges.
Collecting physical evidence must occur within 96 hours (4 days) at a local emergency room. See details on hospitals below.

Time sensitive medical decisions

All services, except evidence collection and drug testing, can be provided for Brown students by Health Services.

If you are concerned about pregnancy, you can prevent pregnancy by taking emergency contraception within 120 hours (5 days) of the assault. Emergency contraception is most effective when taken as soon as possible.
HIV prophylaxis treatment needs to be started within 72 hours.
If you think you were drugged or consumed a sedative-like substance, ask the medical provider to take a urine sample. Date rape 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.
Screening for date rape drugs can be done up to 72 hours after the incident but is optimally done within 12 hours. Since many of these drugs clear the system quickly, a negative test result does not necessarily mean that no drug was involved.
You can decide what medical care you want or don't want. It's important to discuss STIs, date rape drug screening and pregnancy prevention with a medical provider.

What are my options on and off campus?

IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

A note about confidential resources: Information shared with confidential resources (including information about whether an individual has received services) will only be disclosed to the Title IX coordinator or any other person with the individual's express written permission, unless there is an imminent threat of serious harm to the individual or to others, or a legal obligation to reveal such information (e.g., if there is suspected abuse or neglect of a minor).

Get help by calling one of these sexual assault resources:

Sexual Assault Response Line, 401.863-6000. This number can connect you with the confidential help of the Sexual Assault Crisis Counselor who can provide you with information as well as accompany you to the hospital if needed.
BWell SHARE Advocates, 401.863-2794, [email protected]. Confidential support. Located on the Ground Level of the Health & Wellness Center at 450 Brook St. The SHARE (Sexual Harm Acute Response & Empowerment) Advocates in BWell Health Promotion are confidential resources at Brown that can provide support to any student from any part of the University (undergraduate, graduate, and medical students) affected by issues or experiences related to: Sexual Assault, Sexual and/or Gender-based Harassment, Domestic/Dating Violence, Relational Abuse, or Stalking, that has taken place at any time in their lives. Confidential services include acute responses or ongoing empowerment-based support for a survivor or the friends of a survivor, including help filing a complaint (if that is the student's choice) and/or navigating resources at Brown and in the community.*This is a survivor-centered resource for people who have experienced sexual harm.
For a complete list of on and off-campus resources, click here.

What types of care are available at local hospitals?

Hasbro Children’s Hospital
593 Eddy Street, Providence
401.444-4000

Will care for patients under 18.
Serves patients of all gender identities.
Serves patients who may be intoxicated (alcohol and/or other drugs).
Provides medical care, including STI and HIV prophylaxis and emergency contraception.
Offers testing for drug-facilitated sexual assault up to 72 hours after an assault, even if you don’t want to have the evidence collection exam. (Be aware that some drugs may not be detectable after 12 hours.)
Can provide the evidence collection exam up to 72 hours after an assault.
Will offer a Day One Advocate if you prefer off-campus support. (For a confidential crisis counselor from Brown, you can contact the Sexual Assault Response Line at 401.863-6000.)
Cost of treatment and evidence collection may be covered by Rhode Island’s Victim Compensation Fund. Be sure to tell the receptionist that you have been sexually assaulted and don’t want your insurance to be billed.

Women and Infants Hospital
101 Dudley Street, Providence
401.274-1100

Serves female and all trans patients who are 14 or older.
Does NOT serve patients who are incapacitated.
Provides medical care, including STI and HIV prophylaxis and emergency contraception.
Offers testing for drug-facilitated sexual assault.
Can provide the evidence collection exam up to 96 hours (4 days) after an assault.
Will offer a Day One Advocate if you prefer off-campus support. (For a confidential crisis counselor from Brown, you can contact the Sexual Assault Response Line at 401.863-6000.)
Cost of treatment, evidence collection AND the ER visit may be covered by Rhode Island’s Victim Compensation Fund. Be sure to tell the receptionist that you have been sexually assaulted and don’t want your insurance to be billed.

Rhode Island Hospital
593 Eddy Street, Providence
401.444-5411

Rhode Island Hospital is a Level One Trauma Center. This is the best hospital for care when someone has life-threatening physical injuries in addition to being sexually assaulted.

What if it has been more than five days?

ANY TIME AFTER AN ASSAULT

Consider getting medical care. You can go to Health Services or your own provider. Even if you think that you do not have any physical injuries, it's important to get medical care to discuss STIs and pregnancy prevention.
Talk with a counselor who is trained to assist victims of sexual assault.
Try 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 or force.
You have the right to file a complaint on campus (if the person who assaulted you was another Brown student) as well as press charges off campus with the police. A campus advocate can support you through either process.
Contact the SHARE Advocates in Health Promotion for confidential support. ([email protected]). Help is available for students who have experienced sexual violence and abuse in a relationship. Confidential services include support for a survivor or the friends of a survivor, help exploring options to address the incident (such as filing a complaint, if that is the student's choice) and educational programs for the student community. When you get support, you do not have to pursue any specific course of action and no action will be taken unless it's something you choose.
Consider accessing support from any of these on and off campus resources.
Visit the Title IX page for information on Brown's Sexual and Gender-based Misconduct Policy.