Student Health Service

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» Sexual assault
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RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT

Sexual assault is an all too common problem. In a 1997 survey at Wake Forest, one in nine female respondents (11%) reported that while they were a student at Wake Forest, they had an experience that met the North Carolina legal definition of sexual assault or rape. Of these women, 87% were in their freshman or sophomore years.

Most sexual assaults on college campuses are committed by someone the victim knows either casually or sometimes quite well. Sexual assaults frequently occur in residence hall rooms, in off-campus apartments, in cars, hotel rooms, or off-campus over university breaks. In the 1997 Wake Forest survey, 80% of the reported incidents of coerced sexual activity involved alcohol or other drugs. Over the past several years there has been the deliberate addition of sedative drugs ("date rape drugs"--Rohypnol, GHB) to alcoholic beverages, incapacitating the victim and creating long memory lapses, with the intention of sexually assaulting the victim.

Rape and sexual assault can result in physical injury, sexually transmitted diseases, and pregnancy. Short-term responses are similar to those experienced after any trauma. They include:

Most victims do not seek help and many go on to develop longer-term responses such as:

Resources for sexually assaulted students

Urge students to obtain medical attention at the Student Health Service, whose staff has been trained to assist sexual assault victims, or to go to either local hospital emergency room in Winston-Salem where staff trained in working with rape victims can perform evidence collection procedures. Students should be encouraged to avoid showering before presenting for medical assistance, and to obtain medical assistance as soon as possible after an assault. Victim Services volunteers (x4332) and PREPARE Student Advocates (students trained in assisting peers in dealing with an acute incidence of rape or sexual assault) are important resources.

The University has a sexual misconduct judicial policy and guidelines specific to incidents of rape and sexual assault (see the Student Handbook or the Student Life web page for details). Wake Forest's presumptive sanction for Non-Consensual Sexual Intercourse (commonly referred to as rape) is expulsion.

IMPORTANT CONTACTS

Student Health Service
758-5218

University Police 911 (from on-campus)
& 758-5911(from off-campus)

University Counseling Center
758-5273
(FOR EMERGENCIES AFTER HOURS, CALL STUDENT HEALTH SERVICE)

PREPARE Student Advocates
208-1636, leave message

Judicial Officer
758-5226

Residence Life and Housing
758-5185

Sexual Assault Response Program (Family Services)
722-4457

Forsyth Memorial Hospital Emergency Room
718-2001

Wake Forest Baptist Med. Ctr. Emergency Room
713-9000

Winston-Salem Police
911

Forsyth County Sheriff's Department
911

Victim Assistance Program
758-4332 or 758-5591

Division of Student Life