The Counseling Services staff is available to see students who are experiencing intense emotional distress.  Simply come down to Smith House and you will be seen by the counselor who is free at that time.  Often it is helpful to have a friend, faculty or Residence Life staff member accompany you.

On weekends or after 4:30 on week days call 2222 and a member of Public Safety will help you make a plan to get the help you need.

Alcohol and Other Drug-Related Emergencies
It is crucial to get a person who has alcohol poisoning to the hospital as quickly as possible.  Someone who has drunk enough to be suffering from alcohol poisoning is not sick.  He or she is dying.

Call Public Safety (2222) if you have an alcohol or other drug related emergency.  They are trained in first response emergency intervention and can call an ambulance.

If You Have Been Sexually Assaulted:

• Go to a safe place
• Get a friend or someone you can trust to be with you.
• On campus, call Public Safety (2222) and they will put you in touch with one of our trained Sexual Assault Victim Advocate.  She will assist you through all the decisions that you will have to make while respecting your confidentiality.  Contacting Public Safety does not mean that the case will go to trial.  All information will remain confidential between you and the authorities. 
• Off campus resources include:   
  Milton Police   617 698-3800
                or                                                     
  The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center 617 492-7273
                or
  Womansplace Crisis Center Hotline 508 588-8255 
                or
  Sexual Assault Hotline 781-326-1111
• Get immediate medical attention at a hospital, or the college health services
• Don’t bathe, shower, or douche.  Do not change or clean your clothes.  Do not move anything in your room.
• If you can, write down everything you can remember about the rape, or have a friend write it for you.

Three Reasons to Obtain Medical Attention

Emotional
You may be experiencing a broad range of emotions if you have been raped.  Getting definitive information on your physical condition can be helpful and may ease your anxiety level.

Medical
You may need medical treatment for injuries, including internal injuries that you may not be aware of.  It is important that you receive treatment and testing for sexually transmitted infections.  To prevent pregnancy with emergency contraception (the Morning After Pill), you must be seen within 72 hours of the assault.

Legal
Unless you ask them not to, the hospital staff will follow prescribed procedures to collect physical evidence related to the assault, using specific materials from a packet called “the rape kit”.

Should you decide to press charges, this evidence can be used in court, and the hospital personnel who care for you may serve as witnesses.

Strict confidentiality will be observed, and information will be released only with your knowledge and/or consent.  Legal evidence can be collected only until 5 days after the assault, yet it is still a good idea to go to the hospital even if more than 5 days have elapsed.

While you may go to any hospital that you want, it is best to go to a hospital, which has a Sexual Assault nurse examiner on staff.  These include: MGH, Beth Israel, Brigham and Women’s, Newton Wellesley and Quincy Medical Center.

Next Steps
The Sexual Assault Victim Advocate will assist you in deciding and negotiating what to do in the ensuing days after the assault. 

Emotional
Common feelings among rape and Sexual assault victims may include fear, powerlessness, guilt, shame and anger.  Often one’s daily life is disturbed with difficulty sleeping, eating and concentrating.  It is advisable to get professional support either through the Boston Rape Crisis Center, the College Counseling Service or a therapist of your choosing.

Medical
Although it is best to go to the hospital immediately, remember that a late visit is better than no physical check-up.

Legal
Reporting the incident to Public Safety does not mean that you will have to prosecute; it just gives you the option of doing so.  You can make that decision later, with the assistance of a district attorney or your own legal advisor.  Reporting a rape to Public Safety, even anonymously, can help college administrators, counselors, and police in their efforts to make this campus a safer place for women by pointing out the need for security, programming or physical changes to the campus
You can report a sexual assault without disclosing your name by using the Anonymous Report Form available from Public Safety, Counseling Services, Health Services or Residence Life.
Asking someone from Counseling Services, Health Services or Residence Life to relay information for you to Public Safety
Sending an unsigned, written account of the assault to Public Safety.

What to do if a friend has been raped?

Believe
Believe him or her.   Do not ask the “why” questions.  This just blames the victim.
Examples are:    Why were you there?
                         Why didn’t you…..?
                         Why didn’t you scream/run etc?

Support
Encourage your friend to seek medical attention at the hospital, call Public Safety (2222) and they will put you in touch with, Paula Vasconcellos, the Sexual Assault Victim Advocate.   Medical exams are important to detect internal injuries, STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections) and pregnancy.  Medical exams collect evidence, should your friend decide to prosecute.

Let your friend make the decisions; do not tell them what to do.

Allow your friend to react to the rape by screaming, yelling or crying, whatever they feel they need to do.   The victim is venting emotions toward the attacker and situation, not at you.  Suggest calling Counseling Services at 2182 to talk with a counselor.

Silence
Let your friend decide who will know about the rape.   It is not your place to tell people.
Listen.   Do not add your opinion.  Say you will always be there to listen or just sit silently with your friend.
Just be a friend.

Safety Awareness
Connect with friends on campus.  Share schedules, cell phone numbers, and family contact information.

Try to stay in groups at parties and go as a group.  Look out for each other and leave together.  Create a plan for meeting if one person wants to stay.  Have a signal between group members if one of you wants to leave fast.  Let someone know where you are and when you will return.

Avoid being alone with someone you do not know.  Be familiar with your surroundings.  A place is only as safe as the people who are in it.
Never accept beverages from someone you do not know.  Do not leave drinks unattended as it provides an opportunity to add drugs or liquor to them.

Be aware of your own limits and do not hesitate to say NO to things you do not want to do.  Trust your instincts.