If you or someone you know has been raped or sexually assaulted, there is support available from organisations in Bristol and throughout Avon and Somerset.
They will never tell you what you should do, but will help you think about your options.
They will listen and believe you.
You will be cared for in a place where you are safe.
If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest NHS sexual assault referral centre (SARC) for free, specialist care and support in a safe space.
You can get help from a SARC without having to talk to the police or report what happened to you – your consent is everything, at every stage.
If you have been raped or sexually assaulted within the last seven days, you will be offered a forensic medical examination. This is where a doctor or nurse collects evidence, including swabs, from your body and clothes.
It is your choice whether to have a forensic medical examination and having one doesn’t mean you have to report to the police.
If you decide to have a forensic medical examination, the SARC will ensure that any evidence gathered follows the national guidance for collection, movement and storage of DNA evidence.
A SARC will not ask you to use a self-swab kit as part of a forensic medical examination.
If you’re not sure about reporting to the police, you can have the examination and the evidence can be safely stored, giving you time to decide what to do.
If you decide to report to the police in the future, this evidence can be shared with them.
Preserving evidence: what you need to know
When you contact the SARC, they will give you advice on what you can do to help preserve evidence before a forensic medical examination.
It is recommended that you do not take a swab yourself, as this could impact the ability of the SARC to capture a DNA sample and provide the required evidence to the police. You can read about the risks of doing this in a joint position statement on self-swabbing kits, which has been published by the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine.
Facts about The Bridge (the SARC for Avon and Somerset):
This joint statement is supported by the following organisations:
Avon and Somerset Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner; The Bridge Sexual Assault Referral Centre; Bristol City Council; Bristol Nights; The Green House; Kinergy; The Nelson Trust; NHS England; Safelink; SARSAS; The Southmead Project; University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust; Womankind.
Further Information: