You might also want to consider contacting a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC). SARCs provide dedicated support to victims/survivors of rape or sexual assault – including providing a confidential space for interviews, examinations and collecting evidence. Some may also offer counselling services.
These services are available to all ages and genders, and you can use access their services regardless of whether or not you feel you want to report to the police.
If you experienced sexual assault within the last 10 days, you may wish to go to a SARC centre and/or arrange to see Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) . For more information, please see the following webpage:- SARCs and ISVAs - New Pathways
Anyone can self-refer to a SARC. This means that you can go to the SARC independently and do not have to involve the police, or anyone else if you do not want to.
If you self-report in this way, it is up to you whether any evidence which is collected is passed on to the police. If you later decide to report, the evidence will still be at the SARC.
Also, if possible, try to take these steps:
- do not wash
- do not brush your teeth
- do not have a cigarette
- do not eat or drink
- do not change your clothes
- if you do change your clothes, do not wash them but put them in a clean plastic bag
- try not to go to the toilet
- do not clear up anything from the area of the incident
- don't worry if you have already done some of these things. It's possible that there is still forensic evidence to collect.