Do not wash yourself or change your clothes, even if you really want to. Doing so will destroy important evidence of the rape, such as semen, blood, saliva, hairs and fibres.

Tell someone you trust. Talking to someone you trust and telling them about the rape incident are important, even if you decide not to go to the police. You also can contact any women’s organisation such as WCC for counselling. Talking can help you deal with feelings of fear, anxiety, and worthlessness which victims of sexual assault often experience.

Get a friend to help you. Given the trauma involved, it can be very difficult you to make report on your own. Ask a friend or family member to go with you to the hospital and/or police station to get medical help or to lodge a police report, or help you to contact any women’s organisations for counselling.

Get Medical Help from the Government Hospital

1. Go to the registry counter at the Emergency Department of any government hospital immediately.
2. Doctors will examine you in a private room called the One Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC).
3. You will first be provided with a form requesting your consent for the physical examination. Physical examination and treatment will be given upon your consent for any bruises or injuries.
4. You can lodge a police report at the police counter at the hospital.
5. Once a police report is lodged, a detailed medical examination will be carried out to gather evidence of the rape. The doctors will have to examine your genital areas and your clothes. You will be examined with the present of a police officer. While you may feel uncomfortable, it is very important to gather evidence right away.
6. The evidence collected will be given to the police officer for the purpose of police investigation.
7. With your consent, you shall be referred to a specialist or to an NGO when necessary for counselling.
8. If you do not wish to lodge a police report, the doctors will do physical examination and treat your injuries and obtain blood samples for detection of infectious diseases and only with your consent, arrange for counselling and follow up.

Get Help from the Police

1. Lodge a police report as soon as possible. You can lodge a police report at the any police station. Although a police report is not a mandatory if you are 18 and above, but when you report the rape, you are preventing the rapist from hurting another woman.
2. For the police report, below are the information needed:
   
   • When: When did it occur? – Date and time of the incident/s.
   • Where: Where did it happen? – Location of the incident/s.
   • What and How: What was the incident and how did it happen and how many times it happened? – Details of the incident/s.
   • Who: Who was involved and who was the alleged rapist
   • Effect: What’s the effect on you after the incident? Bruises, injury, etc.
   • Why: Why is the report being lodged? For police to take action, etc.
3. If the report is made after 72 hours of the incident, the rape is considered a ‘cold case’ i.e., the evidence may no longer be there.
4. An Investigating Officer (IO) from the Sexual, Women, and Child Investigations (D11) Unit of the District Police Station will then be assigned to take on the case for further investigation, i.e. taking you to the government hospital for medical help, taking statements, visiting the place of incident to collect more evidence, etc.
5. The suspect can be held in remand while the investigation takes place.
6. The IO will then submit the investigation outcomes to the State Prosecution Office which will then decide whether to charge the suspect for the crime committed. If there is sufficient evidence, the suspect will be charged in court. Otherwise, the suspect will be released.

How Do I Support A Rape Victim?

If your friend has been raped, she is experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions – she may be calm, withdrawn, or hysterical or she may also react with laughter, anger, apathy, or shock. Every survivor copes with the trauma differently. Her greatest fear is that nobody believes her.

It’s also one of the reasons that cause survivors to delay the reporting of the rape – it is important that you believe her. Believing in her will encourage her and help her feel heard and understood. She may have felt that she was powerless, subsequently becoming extremely vulnerable with low self-esteem.

Reassure her that she handled the situation in the best way possible. Offer her choices to regain control of the situation by providing information about police procedures, medical procedures and counselling services. She may not remember all you tell her but that is alright. You can repeat the information later. You should never pressure her to make choices too quickly.

Here’s what you can do:

• Listen to her.
• Believe her. It is important for rape survivors to know that people believe them. Few people lie about being raped.
• Thank her for telling you. Let her know that you understand how hard it is to talk about what happened.
• Support her and tell her that it was not her fault. She did nothing to provoke the rape, and no woman deserves to be raped. The only person to blame is the rapist.
• Reassure her of her worth and express your respect for her strength as a survivor.
• Respect her decisions and allow her to make her own choices.
• Encourage her to make a police report and/or contact a women’s group such as WCC to talk to a counsellor. Every woman’s reaction to sexual assault is different. Because of the powerful effect of emotions like shame, self-blame, fear and hurt, the abuse and its impact need to be understood before recovery can begin. An experienced counsellor can help.