What To Do After Sexual Assault: The First Steps to Recovery
By Kelsey Hoff
In the first hours and days after a sexual assault (SA), it’s common to cycle through a range of different emotions — it’s also very common to feel numb or deny what happened. All of these are normal reactions to a very abnormal experience. Each person processes things differently, and each survivor has different needs and priorities. The first thing to do is find a safe way to check in with how you’re feeling and figure out what you need to feel OK. Finding another person that you trust to listen, take you seriously, and support you while keeping your personal details confidential can help you ensure that you don’t have to take your next steps alone.
Photo by Liza Summer
There are a few 24-hour hotlines you can call to receive immediate support or connect with local resources:
For survivors in Illinois, The Network’s Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline offers assistance in over 240 languages. They’ll talk with you and do a “warm transfer” to one of their member organizations so you don’t have to repeat your story multiple times. Call 877-863-6338 (877-TO END DV).
The Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline run by YWCA is the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) affiliate for Chicago. Call 888-293-2080 24/7 or chat online Monday-Friday between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m.
The number for the National Sexual Assault Hotline is 800-656-HOPE, or you can chat online at online.rainn.org. If you live outside of the Chicago area, this hotline will route you to your local crisis hotline.
This article is part of a series for Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which is April. I spoke with &Rise volunteer Laura Piel Martín, who has been researching survivors’ definitions of sexual violence and sexual harm for her doctorate in Political Science at the University of Wroclaw. Laura has interviewed 44 survivors and activists around the world to learn about what these experiences mean to them and what it means to seek justice.
In this article, I’ll talk about some of Laura’s findings to help you sort through what you’re thinking and feeling, and then I’ll point you to some different types of resources that are available for sexual assault survivors.
How do I know if what I experienced was sexual abuse?
Sexual assault survivors often don’t realize that they experienced sexual assault until months or years after the fact. Many find themselves questioning their gut feelings or doubting whether their experience fits other people’s ideas of what “counts” as sexual assault. Thanks to awareness campaigns and survivors who have shared their stories, more people are recognizing sexual assault for what it is and seeking help right away. Laura points out that it’s important for our society to pay attention to the way survivors define their abuse instead of leaving it up to judges or government agencies.
If you’re asking yourself “Was this sexual assault?” Laura suggests that a more helpful question might be “Why are you asking?” This centers your perspective and your feelings instead of the other person’s actions or what people might think. Survivors know when something’s not right — what your body knows or what your gut tells you is more important than anything else. Finding the language to talk about your experiences can help you find validation, which is a huge step toward healing.
Explore your options: evaluating resources for sexual assault survivors
Some activists encourage survivors to report what happened right away, and others are more about finding peer support. Talking about sexual assault for any reason can be traumatizing or empowering, depending on your emotional state, the situation, and the response you receive. Your health and safety are the top priorities to take care of after a sexual assault. Once this is done, you can start to think about what justice might look like for you.
When you’re in crisis or recovering from one, it can be hard to research service providers and make sure they’re trustworthy. These aren’t exactly situations that most people plan for ahead of time. Getting referrals from people you trust, like another survivor or a support group facilitator, may be more manageable. If you call a hotline, you might ask the operator some questions about a provider’s philosophies or their impact before they transfer you.
The following are six steps you might consider after a sexual assault:
Find an ally you can trust — No matter what route you take to find justice, finding people whom you can trust to believe you and offer affirming care and support is an important first step. Remember that people who mean well aren’t always perfect. Friends and family members and even trained professionals may say or do things that hurt survivors without intending to. Peers who have experienced sexual assault themselves may be some of your best allies.
Seek medical care — Medical care is a necessity if you’re physically hurt or if there’s a chance you may be pregnant or have a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Medical records and photos with date and time stamps may be important records to have later on. If a hospital has medical advocates available, they’re required to offer you one. The Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline can connect you with a medical advocate or let you know which hospitals near you offer them. The Community Crisis Center in Elgin also provides advocacy for SA survivors in the emergency rooms at Provena St. Joseph, Sherman and Delnor Hospitals. These organizations provide counseling and legal advocacy as well.
Create a safety plan — If you live with your abuser or you think they may try to hurt you again, you should create a safety plan. Use the myPlan app or the National Domestic Violence Hotline online tool.
Document the abuse — Creating an evidentiary abuse affidavit helps put your side of the story on a legal record in case anything should happen to you. Document the Abuse is an organization that helps people through this process. They host workshops through &Rise about once a year. Check out our Events page to see if there’s one coming up.
Seek legal support — Take Back the Night offers trauma-informed, victim-centered legal support for survivors of sexual assault. Their 24-hour hotline is 567-SHATTER (567-742-8837). The YWCA and the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) have legal advocates for SA survivors as well. Life Span provides legal services and counseling for victims of SA and immigrants.
Find community with other survivors — You can get to know other survivors at our weekly virtual support group for women sexual abuse survivors. CAASE also hosts community events and workshops to empower survivors to become allies for others.
What does justice look like for survivors of sexual assault?
There is no single "right way" for survivors to pursue justice. The most empowering approach acknowledges that different survivors will need different forms of accountability, that the same survivor may need different approaches at different stages of healing, and that justice is an ongoing process rather than a single outcome. To support survivor agency means to respect and honor different definitions of justice.
While pressing charges may be appropriate and empowering for some survivors, research shows that the legal process can be retraumatizing. As a result, Laura tells me, many survivors seek alternative forms of justice that better serve their individual healing processes and broader social change goals. Laura's interview studies found that punitive measures became less central to survivors' sense of justice when they received validation and acknowledgment from those around them.
For example, many survivors discover that sharing their experiences creates ripple effects of awareness and healing: survivor narratives often become the catalyst for others to recognize and name their own experiences of assault. Storytelling can transform individual trauma into collective understanding and action, and public testimony creates space for communities to witness harm and commit to change. These acts of narrative sharing represent a form of restorative justice that can center the survivor's voice and agency while creating opportunities for community acknowledgment and growth.
More local Chicago area resources for sexual assault survivors
These are just a few of the basic steps you might take to care for your emotional, mental and physical well-being after a sexual assault. There are many more local and national organizations that provide different services to survivors from different backgrounds. Check out our Resources page or keep reading for more options.
For LGBTQ+ survivors — Equality Illinois has an LGBTQ+ Resource Guide. The Center on Halsted and Howard Brown Health are also good resources.
For Latinas — Mujeres Latinas en Acción provides comprehensive services for Latina SA survivors. This includes crisis intervention, individual and group counseling, adult and child therapy, legal and medical advocacy, community education, professional and volunteer trainings, and referrals to other resources. Reach them at (773) 890-7676 or email mail@mujereslat.org.
For Asian immigrants — KAN-WIN offers comprehensive services for SA survivors in the Asian immigrant community. This includes a 24-hour multilingual hotline ((773) 583-0880), case management, support groups, legal advocacy, and transitional housing.
For Jewish survivors — Shalva offers culturally competent support for Jewish women who have experienced domestic abuse. Their hotline is 773-583-HOPE (4673).
For children and families — Reclaim 13 — helps children, adults, and families that have been affected by sexual abuse. Call their crisis hotline at (312) 462-3306.
For community based health care — Check out our resource page listing community based primary and specialty care in Cook County.
This is a lot of information to sort through when you’re feeling overwhelmed. You’re doing the right thing by getting to know your options and advocating for yourself. Take some deep breaths and choose one person or organization to reach out to first. You might write down a few simple phrases to describe what you’re dealing with and what kind of help you’re looking for. This can help keep your stress to a minimum while you’re talking with representatives.
We wish you the best of luck with your healing journey. You can always contact us directly or show up to one of our weekly support groups.
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