What to Do If You’ve Been Assaulted: A Guide to Healing and Justice

The Department of Justice reports that only about 310 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults ever get reported to the police. Even fewer sexual assault cases wind up in civil court where injured individuals can seek financial justice for what happened.

One huge reason for this massive gap in justice-seeking is due to the natural emotional response you’re likely to feel after the incident — fear. Another reason is that you may not know what to do if you are assaulted.

This guide will help you understand the steps you should take to preserve your safety, physical health, emotional well-being, and legal rights.

Immediate Steps to Take After a Sexual Assault

If you’re not sure what to do after sexual assault incidents, then you’re more likely to make mistakes that could put you at risk of further harm or impact your rights. That said, you need to do your best to first calm your nervous system down enough to be able to think clearly and get to safety.

Ensure Your Safety First

If you’re not sure if you’re safe from another attack, then it might be in your best interests to call 911. Involving the authorities is one way to ensure your temporary safety and separation from the abuser. This will allow your body and mind enough space to think clearly and plan out your next steps.

Seek Medical Attention Promptly

While you may naturally want to avoid rushing to the hospital, it’s important to get medical care immediately after the assault. In general, the sooner you seek medical attention, the better off it is for your health and safety. Sexual assault can lead to a host of sexually transmitted diseases, conditions, bacteria, or even unintentional pregnancy. Immediate medical care can help prevent and treat sexually transmitted infections and diseases.

Preserve Evidence if Possible

Getting immediate care is also an important way to officially document injuries you sustain in case you decide to pursue a case later. When you do receive medical treatment, they can also do a simple procedure to check for any DNA left by the perpetrator. This type of evidence can prove invaluable in either a criminal or civil case. Outside of that, you can preserve evidence by saving and making copies of any text messages, phone call logs, photographs, video footage, or any other type of evidence that you have that can prove what transpired.

Reporting the Assault

Your next step is to report the assault to the authorities. This step can feel very intimidating, but it’s so important to file a police report. As the statistics at the beginning of this article showed, only about one in three sexual assaults ever get reported to the police. If you don’t report the incident, then no criminal investigation will take place, and your perpetrator is unlikely to be held accountable.

Seeking Emotional Support

All the steps above take a tremendous amount of resilience and strength after an attack. That said, it’s a great idea to seek emotional support from your friends, family, or a professional. When you talk to a therapist, you can speak openly about what happened without fear of judgment or criticism, and this might be preferable considering the severity of a sexual attack. It can be very difficult to discuss this type of incident with family and friends who may not know how to help you cope with the traumatic incident.

In the immediate aftermath of your attack, it’s also a good idea to avoid social media posts in general. Not only do you want to protect yourself from posting out of a place of emotional distress, but you also want to be sure you don’t impact any future potential claim by posting online about the incident or your state of mind after. Anything you post online could come back to haunt you if you pursue a civil lawsuit for compensation.

Understanding Your Legal Options

Next, it’s a good idea to consult an attorney about the specific facts and circumstances of your attack. The right lawyer will fully inform you about your legal options when it comes to seeking criminal and civil justice. On a criminal level, you can pursue charges against the perpetrator. On the civil level, you can pursue a personal injury case against your attacker to recover financial compensation to cover your losses.

Considering the seriousness of your situation, you may want to quickly learn how to find the best personal injury lawyer to represent you. The last thing you need in your circumstances is an ineffective or unskilled attorney.

Speaking with a lawyer might also help you learn about ongoing lawsuits against your perpetrator or the institutions that supported them. One of the biggest ongoing situations involving sexual assault in an institution deals with religious sexual abuse. If you’re looking to file a Mormon abuse lawsuit or a similar claim, then search for an attorney who has handled those specific types of cases.

Preventing Further Harm

Next, you need to take preventative steps to protect yourself moving forward. If necessary, then you may have to take action to seek a protective order from the police to ensure your attacker can’t legally contact you. Create as much space and distance as possible between you and your offender, even if it means changing up your lifestyle.

Long-Term Recovery and Moving Forward

Finally, you’ll want to focus on your long-term recovery. Pursuing civil justice can help you recuperate from the financial losses you’ve suffered, but you’ll still need to focus on your physical and emotional recovery. You may need to take steps to protect yourself in the future, and you also might have to make lifestyle changes that reduce your risks of future attacks.

You Are Not Alone

Learning what to do if you are assaulted is only one small step towards recovering from what happened. During this very sensitive time, it can be extremely difficult to think rationally, so it might be a good idea to consider hiring a legal advocate who can handle all the legal aspects of your case for you while you focus on your healing and recovery.

Schedule a free case evaluation with our empathetic and supportive lawyers now to learn everything you need to know about your legal options after assault.