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What is sexual assault?
Sexual assault is forced, manipulated, or coerced sexual activity. It is a crime in which the assailant uses sex to inflict humiliation on the victim or exert power and control over the victim.
The victim of sexual assault can be any age, race, gender, or social background, as can the perpetrator. Rapists can be anyone. Most are married or have ongoing relationships. The rapist is motivated by the need for power and the need to dominate someone. In more than half of all reported rapes, the victim and rapist know each other. Child victims know their rapist in more than 80 percent of all cases. Some rapists use drugs to disable their intended victim. For more information, see our section on Drug Facilitated Rape.
For more information, contact the Coalition to order brochures and fact sheets about sexual violence.
If You Have Been Sexually Assaulted....
- First, get to a safe place. Call the police, a sexual assault crisis center, or a friend.
- Do not change your clothes, bathe, douche, or wash away any evidence.
- Go to the nearest hospital emergency room to be examined and have necessary medical and legal evidence collected. A Forensic Sexual Assault Medical Exam is available at any New Hampshire emergency room within five days of the assault. If you are afraid to go to the hospital alone, an advocate from your local crisis center can meet you there. The hospital will also contact a crisis center to have an advocate meet you at the hospital, if you haven't already done so. The hospital will also contact the police, but you are not required to talk to an officer unless you want to.
- At many hospitals, you will be examined by a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, a Registered Nurse who has been specially trained to provide comprehensive care to sexual assault survivors, who demonstrates competency in conducting forensic examinations and the ability to be an expert witness. The SANE program mission is to avoid further trauma to all sexual assault survivors entering the health care environment by providing a compassionate and sensitive approach, timely medical/forensic examination with complete evidence collection, appropriate referral for follow-up care and counseling, and testimony in court when necessary. More than 50 Registered Nurses and advanced practice providers have completed the required training to become SANEs, and most New Hampshire hospitals now have SANEs on staff.
- If you suspect you were assaulted with the aid of drugs which can render you unconscious and leave you with no memory of the attack or the perpetrator, be sure to tell the emergency room staff. They can test your blood and urine for traces of these drugs, which can be slipped into a drink and are generally tasteless, odorless and colorless. Symptoms of these drugs include feeling more intoxicated than you normally do when drinking the same amount of alcohol, waking up with memory lapses and feeling as though someone had sexual contact with you, but not being able to remember any or all of the incident.
- Bring a change of clothes with you. Any clothes worn at the time of the assault may be collected as evidence.
- If, for any reason, you choose not to contact police or go to an emergency room, do seek the help and support of your local crisis center. Confidential support and information are available 24 hours a day from crisis centers across New Hampshire. Advocates are available to talk to anyone who has been affected by sexual violence and abuse. They can provide emotional support and explain options and services available to sexual assault survivors or their parents, partners or friends. Information you give to a crisis center is confidential and will never be given out without your written permission.
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