It’s hard to know what to do or where to go for help after a sexual assault.
Please know that you are not alone.
We provide comprehensive services to all victims of sexual crimes.
Our 24-hour crisis hotline number is 903-454-9999.
Immediately following or up to 120 hours following the sexual assault:
• Get to a safe place. Call 911 if you are in immediate danger.
• Do not shower, bathe, douche, wash your hands, brush your teeth, or use the toilet.
• Don’t change or destroy clothing.
• As hard as it may be not to clean up, you may destroy important evidence if you do.
• Get medical attention as soon as possible. A list of local hospitals can be found here.
• Contact a friend or family member you trust or call your local Rape Crisis Hotline for support and information. Our Rape Crisis Hotline number is 903-454-9999.
When you present to an Emergency Room, the Charge Nurse will contact:
• a specialized Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) to perform an evidence collection examination.
• Sexual Assault Advocate from your local Rape Crisis Center to come to the ER and be there with you through the entire process to support you and answer any questions you may have.
• Law enforcement – most hospitals automatically call the police, but this does not mean you are obligated to talk to them or file a crime report
The forensic medical exam or SANE exam will:
assess potential injuries and attempt to collect evidence.
The SANE nurse will ask you what happened to your body and that will determine how they conduct their exam.
The nurse or exam won’t be able to tell you if you were sexually assaulted or not, only you can answer that question for yourself.
The evidence collected gets sent to a lab to be processed.
If you are reporting, results can take a couple of months to get to the investigating police department.
If you are not reporting, the kit will only be processed if you decide to report.
After the SANE exam, the nurse will discuss your options of getting preventative STI medication, HIV medication, and emergency contraception (Plan B).
The SANE nurse may collect your clothes that you were wearing at the time of the assault (clothes, underwear, etc.) for evidence. You will be provided new clothes/underwear to go home in.
Once you are ready to leave, you will be discharged from the ER. The CCNETX advocate will make sure you have a safe place to go and have transportation to get there.
The length of this process can vary. It can take anywhere between 1 to 5 or 6 hours. On average, it takes about 3-4 hours.
Do I have to report to the police?
Before your physical examination in the emergency room, you may have contacted law enforcement. If you did not, it is important for you to understand that many hospitals automatically contact law enforcement once you are there. This does not mean that you are obligated to make a crime report. You have the right to a forensic medical examination by a SANE nurse regardless if you file a police report. The evidence collected from the exam will still go to the lab, you will have 5 years to report before the kit is destroyed.
What if it is after 120 hours?
If it is after 120 hours or 5 days past the assault, you will not be able to get a forensic evidence collection or SANE exam, but you may go to your Primary Care Physician or your OB-GYN to get a checkup and assess for injuries.
If you do not have a Primary Care Physician or OB-GYN, or have further questions, please call CCNETX at 903-454-9999 and ask to speak to an Advocate for further options.
