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Assault and Abuse |
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Sexual Assault & Partner Violence Surviving a violent act can been an extremely emotionally and physically challenging task. If you have been sexually assaulted, or emotionally or physically abused you need to seek professional help. Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network - 1-800-656-HOPE National Domestic Violence Hotline- 1-800-799-SAFE Sexual Assault Sexual assault is any sexual act that occurs without all participants willing and intelligible consent. The sexual acts may including intercourse (vaginal or anal), oral sex, kissing, caressing, touching or masturbating. Most women and men who are assaulted know the people that victimized them, just because you may be "friends" with the person who assaulted you, does not mean that it is acceptable or not sexual assault. There are many feelings that go through people's minds right after they are assaulted. You may think, how could this happen to me? What will my family and friends say? Who can help me or understand what I'm going through? Everyone who is a survivor of sexual assault reacts differently. You may have physical injuries, nightmares, depression, anxiety, embarrassment, guilt, shame, anger…these are all normal steps through the healing process. It is important to remember that you are not alone. If you have recently been sexually assaulted you need to seek medical attention immediately. Go to a sage place and contact someone you trust. Do not shower or wash the area in which you were assaulted. For example, if you were raped vaginally, do not wash your vagina, take a shower, or wipe your vagina with toilet paper after urinating (try not to urinate at all, if possible) . Everything that is on your body will be used as evidence if you decided to press charges against the person that did this to you. The emergency room doctors and nurses will also be able to treat any injuries you may have sustained and treat you in advance for any sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancies that may have been a result of the assault. If your assault did not happen recently, try to find a sexual assault hotline in the yellow pages of your local phone book where you can speak with a professional about your experience and they can give you additional places to go for help if you need them. If you know someone who has been sexually assaulted, encourage them to go to the hospital, if the assault has occurred recently. Either way, encourage them to find a sexual assault hotline in their area where they can speak with a professional about their experience and can be given local information on where to go for additional help. Look in your local yellow pages for numbers like these. Partner Violence (physical and emotional abuse) Physical and emotional abuse are crimes. If you partner uses threats, intimidation, coercion, hitting, slapping, punching, or kicking to make you do things you don't want to do, you are being abused. Abuse is about power and control. The person that is abusing you feels as though they have the right to control what you do and that they have the power to do so. They're wrong. and they are committing a very serious crime. Usually, battering starts out 'small' with name calling, and teasing, maybe a shove. After time it may become worse, with hitting, punching, or sexual assault. Partner violence can take many forms, the important thing is to be able to recognized that you are being abused. If you are in a violent relationship you must try to end the relationship. No matter what you may have done in the past, you do not deserve the treatment you are getting. Ending this relationship may be very hard, the person you are with may be very nosy and never lets you out of their sight. Please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline where someone who knows what you are going through can talk to you and give you advice at 1-800-799-SAFE. You may also need to go to the police to get a restraining order. This restraining order will make sure that your abuser cannot come within a certain distance of you, call you on the phone, or have any other contact with you. If they do, they could go to jail. Remember, this is not your fault and you do not deserve to be abused, physically or emotionally. You are not alone. Millions of men and women in the United States along go through the very same things as you every day. |
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