Medical Care Following Sexual Assault - Your Health is Important
We encourage survivors to receive medical attention soon after a sexual assault. Even if there are no visible signs of injury, you may have internal damage, been exposed to sexually transmitted infections, and/or been impregnated. Please note that receiving medical care is a separate and confidential process from reporting to police.
You can receive medical care at a doctor's office, a health clinic, or from the Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence (SA/DV)Treatment Centre accessed through the Emergency Department at the Grand River Hospital in Kitchener or Cambridge Memorial. Ask for the SA/DV nurse on call.
The SA/DV Treatment Program can be contacted at 519-749-6994.
If you want support before going or an accompaniment call our
24 Hour Crisis & Support Line: 519.741.8633
Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Program
The SA/DV Treatment Program offers comprehensive care, addressing emergency medical, forensic, emotional, and social needs, for survivors of recent sexual or domestic violence assault (occurring within 72 hours if you are 16 years of age or older and no time frame limitations if you are under 16 years of age).
Sexual Assault Evidence Kit
While receiving medical care from the SA/DV Treatment Program, you may choose to undergo a Sexual Assault Evidence Kit, a medical exam that collects evidence of the sexual assault, which may be used in a police investigation. The kit can be stored in confidence at the hospital for up to six months (after which it will be destroyed), as the survivor decides whether or not to report the assault and release the kit.
If you are thinking about undergoing a Sexual Assault Evidence Kit, take note that:
The sexual assault must have happened within 72 hours or preferably 48 hours. You should avoid, if possible - showering or bathing, changing your clothes, eating or drinking, and going to the bathroom - as these activities limit the amount of evidence that can be collected.
Legal Options Following Sexual Assault
Your Decision to Report
Reporting the sexual assault is a decision each survivor must make for her/him self. Reporting may not be part of your healing path. For survivors who decide to report, it is important to remember that support can help you through this very trying process.
To make an appointment to report a sexual assault to the police, please call the Waterloo Region Major Case Unit the 519-653-7700 extension 8674.
If you want support before reporting or an accompaniment to the police station, call our 24 Hour Crisis and Support Line.
If You Decide to Report, You Have the Right to...
- Get immediate medical care after reporting the sexual assault to the police, if you have not received care yet. Please note that the police can be contacted while or after receiving care from the Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Program at the hospital.
- Be treated with courtesy, compassion, and respect for your personal dignity and privacy.
- Request the police officer who will take your statement be of the same gender as you. Describe what happened in your own words without interruption.
- Ask for the discussions to take place in a more private location.
- Ask for clarification of any question or the purpose of any question.
- Take a break from questioning.
- Be given a copy of your statement as soon as possible after it has been completed.
- Have an interpreter, if your first language is not English.
- Have communication and/or transportation assistance, if you have a disability.
- Make a complaint to the police if you're unhappy with the way you were treated.
- Have a supporter accompany you to the police station (call our 24 Hour Crisis & Support Line to arrange for an accompaniment to the police station.
~ adapted from Sexual Assault: The Law, Your Rights as a Victim, Victoria Legal Aid
