The rape reported last week by Mission Loc@l highlights how important it is that people know what resources are available if it happens to them or someone they know.
The clinics and advocates that spoke with Mission Loc@l all emphasized the same goal of helping the victim regain control of his or her life. That can mean anything from finding new housing and filing charges against a perpetrator to talking with a counselor and declining to report the matter to police. It’s different for everyone, officials said.
“We have no agenda, we are here to help,” said Jessica Dodge, a physician assistant and medical manager with the Trauma Recovery Center and Rape Treatment Center at San Francisco General Hospital. “Our main goal is to keep them in the driver’s seat in terms of choices.”
The first step is to see a doctor. Rape can result in pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and injury. If a person comes in right away, they can quickly be given emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy and prophylactic drugs to prevent sexually transmitted infections. A month-long series of antiviral medications can reduce a person’s chance of becoming infected with HIV, Dodge said.
Patients who come into the center don’t have to decide right away whether they want to release forensic evidence to the police, said Dodge. The center can collect forensic evidence and hold it for up to three months while a client decides whether he or she wants to release it to the police.
“It’s completely up to the client,” she added. “That’s the question: How can we help? What can we do to help get you through this?”
One myth about rape is that victims all have horrible and disfiguring injuries, according to Jon Dean Green, division administrator for San Francisco General Hospital’s Division of Psycho-Social Medicine, which includes the Trauma Recovery and Rape Treatment Centers.
“People always assume that after a rape you have these horrible and disfiguring injuries, but injuries are not as common as you might expect,” Green said. “The reason is that you’re thinking, ‘He’s going to do something bad to me.’ You’re thinking, ‘If I struggle he’s going to injure me or kill me.’”
“You can be horribly psychologically damaged without it showing on the outside,” he added.
There have been 39 reported cases of rape in San Francisco already this year, compared to 50 reported cases in the same time period in 2008, according to police. But those numbers don’t tell the full story. A U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics found that about 63 percent of rape victims don’t report it.
Many advocates and health care providers will say police involvement is not always best for the rape survivor.
“The majority of sexual assaults happen by someone you know,” said Teresa Martyny, who directs the volunteer and hotline programs with San Francisco Women Against Rape. “Most of the time they don’t want to report someone they know to the police.”
Martyny said they received nearly 1,800 calls to their crisis hotline during the last fiscal year.
The effects of rape on a person extend long after the physical injuries are gone.
Martyny’s organization offers free counseling, accompaniments on medical visits and a range of other social services, including help finding housing, jobs or hot meals.
“The best way someone can support a rape survivor is by believing them,” said Frolayne Carlos, who also works with San Francisco Women Against Rape. “And let the survivor guide their own healing.”
MISSION DISTRICT RESOURCES:
SF Women Against Rape Hotline: 415.647.RAPE
SF Women Against Rape
All services are free.
3543 18th St., #7
San Francisco, CA 94110
415.861.2024
Trauma Recovery and Rape Treatment Center
San Francisco General Hospital
2727 Mariposa St., Ste. 100 (at Bryant Street)
San Francisco, CA 94116
415.437.3000
http://traumarecoverycenter.org/