5 Legal Strategies for Reclaiming Your Life

Sexual trauma can occur to anyone. People of all ages, genders, and races around the world often get affected severely.

In the United States, a sexual assault occurs every 68 seconds. According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), the following people are more at risk for sexual violence.

• Women (particularly young ladies)
• Students who identify as transgender or gender nonconforming
• Native Americans
• People aged 12 to 34

Sexual trauma is a broad word that encompasses any residual trauma associated with sexuality and sexual events, such as sexual violence, sexual abuse, and sexual assault.

However, Cay L. Crow, a licensed professional counselor and trained sex therapist in San Antonio, believes that the survivors are more concerned with the sexual trauma they have experienced than with the semantics.

What to Do Following a Sexual Assault

Following a sexual attack, it can be difficult to know what to do or how to respond. A stream of emotions may overwhelm a person who has recently suffered such a trauma, generating fury, anguish, excessive weariness, and other symptoms. Deciding what to do next may appear hard and perplexing.

Each survivor has a unique perspective on the experience and their own needs following the catastrophe. Everyone heals from a terrible event differently. Reclaiming your life through legal action would help clarify your future choices and keep you grounded during a difficult moment.

That said, determining legal standpoints and measures is the first step to healing from sexual assault. Irrespective of the magnitude of assault you’ve been a part of, a part of you wouldn’t heal for many years to come. However, this should not bar you from exploring legal strategies, some of which are mentioned here.

1. Protective Orders

A protection order, often known as a restraining or stay-away order, is one of the most important weapons available to survivors of sexual assault. It is an official court document that orders someone (the defendant) not to contact you in any way and to remain away from your home and place of employment.

The sorts of protection orders differ by state. However, there are three main types:

• Emergency Protection Orders (EPOs): Typically granted within 24-48 hours of filing and valid for a few weeks.
• Temporary Protection Orders (TPO) are valid for up to 90 days following a court hearing.
• Permanent Protection Orders (PPOs): Can endure for up to five years as long as the defendant resides in the same state.

Anyone can ask for a protective order, including family members, friends, and even employers, but they must be prepared to appear in court and show evidence to support it.

To get a protection order, contact your local courtroom or police station for more information and help with the filing process.

2. Victim Compensation

Victim compensation offers financial assistance to survivors of sexual assault to cover medical expenditures, lost wages, counseling costs, and other expenses.

Eligibility standards differ by state; if you want to apply for victim compensation, visit your state’s website to learn more about the qualifications and application process.

3. Reporting an Assault

After considering your safety and preserving evidence, you may report the assault to seek justice and prevent others from similar incidents. There are two main ways to report sexual assault: law police and campus officials (if the incident occurred on a college campus).

If you choose to report the incident, you should be prepared to answer some difficult and intimate questions from law enforcement or university officials. You may bring an attorney with you for assistance during this procedure. Having someone to provide emotional support throughout the investigation and legal hearings is also beneficial.

4. Seeking Medical Attention

Following the assault, it is critical to seek medical assistance to assess any physical injuries and acquire prophylactic drugs that might help lower the risk of contracting an STI.

Your healthcare professional will do a medical checkup and collect evidence from your body that could be utilized in the inquiry. This process may feel intrusive, so you are free to ask as many questions as needed to understand what is happening. Your healthcare professional should be empathetic and caring, so do not be afraid to speak out for yourself.

Following the evaluation, your doctor may prescribe drugs or recommend you to another doctor for additional treatment.

5. Consider your legal options

After a sexual attack, it may appear that seeking legal action is the obvious next step. But it’s a lot more complicated. Many victims of sexual assault are bewildered. They may be hesitant to disclose the assault straight away, maybe due to the fact that sexual assaults frequently involve someone the victim knows.

According to the Center for Family Justice, 8 out of 10 sexual assaults involve the victim knowing the attacker, and around 6 out of 10 rape cases take place at the victim’s home (or the home of a friend or relative).

These statistics, which include such a high percentage of victims who know their attacker (and are frequently acquainted with the perpetrator’s friends and family members), contribute to victims of sexual assault experiencing a high level of shame, anxiety, and fear of what others will think.

This is especially true when a victim of sexual assault is deciding whether to take legal action. Another issue that often discourages victims from reporting rapes is the prospect of having to testify against the attacker in court and bring back the horrific memories of the episode.

The end note!

This guide provides an overview of the legal measures a sexual assault survivor should take following an incident. It is critical to seek medical attention to rule out physical injuries and acquire preventative drugs. It’s also vital to comprehend basic legal phrases like “consent” and “statute of limitations,” which will be used during your procedures.

Finally, depending on your position, you have the choice of engaging an attorney or contacting a legal assistance agency.