If someone has hurt you or forced you to have sex...
If someone has made you do something sexual that you didn’t want to do...
If someone has done something to you that you didn’t want...
1. Go to a safe place.
2. Go to your local emergency room for immediate medical attention and safety (even if you don’t think you have any injuries).
3. Find someone you can trust to talk to about your situation (supportive friend, Resident Advisor, a New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Emergency Room Advocate, etc.).
If you don’t feel safe, call 911 for the New York City Police Department or call your college’s campus police. You do not have to file a report if you don’t want to.
You should go to the hospital as soon as possible after a sexual assault. At New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, you will have the right to an Advocate and a SAFE examiner, who is a medical provider specifically trained to treat and provide options to survivors of sexual assault.
You will not be charged for any of the acute sexual assault-related services you receive during this visit to the Emergency Room.
You can call the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell (NYP) Victim Intervention Program (212-746-9414, M-F, 9-5) for information about the options available to a survivor following an assault.
Nobody deserves to be sexually assaulted. Help is available.
A forensic exam may increase the likelihood that physical evidence will be found.
To preserve evidence you should NOT: brush, douche, bathe, shower, change clothes, or straighten the crime scene.
You do not have to file a report with the police or campus police if you do not want to. You CAN have evidence collected through a forensic exam at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Emergency Room and it will be held in hospital security for 30 days, even if you don’t file a police report.
If you have done any of the above, it is OKAY. You can still have a forensic exam and it may still be possible to find evidence.
New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center (NYP) Emergency Room
Entrance on 68th Street and York Avenue
Call 911 for immediate safety and protection
NYP Victim Intervention Program: 212-746- 9414 (M-F, 9-5)
Safe Horizon-24/7- Sexual Assault Victims’ Hotline- 212-227- 3000
Safe Horizon-24/7- Domestic Violence Victims’ Hotline- 800-621- HOPE (4673)
National Sexual Assault Hotline- 1-800- 656-HOPE (4673)
Privacy: You are entitled to a private room for the examination and discussions before and after the examination. Your Emergency Room Advocate will ensure that your privacy is protected.
Dignity: You are entitled to be treated with dignity and sensitivity in a nonjudgmental manner.
Confidentiality: At all times, care should be given in an emotionally supportive and private environment, protecting your right to confidentiality.
INFORMED Consent: All procedures should be fully explained, and all of your concerns should be addressed.
Informed CONSENT: The entire health care and evidence collection process is conducted at your discretion. You may withdraw consent at any time, or may choose to complete only certain parts of the health care exam, forensic exam, or health care treatment. It is always okay to say no and/or change your mind.
Free: Acute sexual assault-related services are free and do not go through your insurance coverage (this includes services provided during this Emergency Room visit related to the sexual assault; treatment for other conditions may not be free of charge).
Advocate: You have the right to have an Advocate to provide support, answer questions, and explain your options.
Sexual assault can happen to anyone, regardless of gender, age, or sexual identity. It is never the survivor’s fault. Sexual assault is a crime and no one deserves to be violated.