-
You may experience these common reactions after an assault.
Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal and a common response. Anxiety can range from mild uneasiness and worry to severe panic. When anxiety becomes too severe or chronic, it can become debilitating, preventing us from living our daily lives and reaching our full potential. Anxiety typically involves an emotional component (e.g., fear or nervousness), a physical component ( e.g., trembling/shaking, dry mouth, racing heart, etc.), and cognitive components ( e.g., frightening thoughts or a feeling of losing control.)
Panic Attacks
A panic attack is an intense and sudden feeling of fear and anxiety. It can have many physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, trembling, rapid shallow breathing, pins and needles in the arms, and feeling faint or dizzy. These attacks do not cause long-term health problems and usually go away between five minutes and half an hour. The body has an automatic fear response that prepares you to cope with or run away from danger. A panic attack results when this response either goes into overdrive or becomes active when it is not needed at all. During a panic attack, your body reacts physically as if you are facing life-threatening situations, even though you may not be in danger.
Flashbacks
A flashback is a momentary, vivid recollection of a past traumatic experience. A flashback can take the form of an image, sound, smell, or feeling. A flashback can be an involuntary memory, and a person may feel they are reliving the experience and cannot recognize that it is not happening in real-time. A flashback can occur at any time and may be directly related to the circumstance of the assault and conversely not related at all. Frequent flashbacks can make you feel out of control or wholly controlled by your experiences.
-
Follow-up care is recommended two weeks after your forensic exam and must be completed within four weeks for the Utah office for Victims of Crime (UOVC) to pay for it.
Step 1: Call the UOVC at (801) 238-2360 to ask for your claim number.
Step 2: Choose your provider and make a follow-up care appointment.
Option 1: See your preferred provider. If you decide to go to your preferred provider, your insurance must cover the provider for UOVC to cover additional costs.
Option 2: Make an appointment with the Salt Lake Valley Health Department.
Step 3: Provide the S.A.F.E Testing Payor Code (32UOV) and your UOVC claim number to the billing department at your provider.
-
You have the right to:
To be treated with fairness, respect, and dignity, and free from harassment and abuse throughout the criminal justice process.
To be informed and assisted as to your role in the criminal justice process, including clear explanations regarding legal proceedings.
To be present and heard at important criminal justice and juvenile justice hearings. Those hearings include preliminary hearings, arraignment, any court proceeding involving the disposition of charges or the delay of a previously scheduled trial date, a court proceeding relating to the defendant’s release from custody, the criminal trial, sentencing hearings, and parole hearings.
To be heard and that the statements be included in any presentence report.
To receive notice of important criminal justice hearings in felony cases.
To protected information such as an address, telephone number, and written impact statement, be only available to a limited group of victim specialists.
To request a pretrial criminal no-contact order be issued by the court.
To a speedy resolution of the case.
To have the sentencing judge receive and consider information about the impact of the crime upon the victim and any other information the victim would like to share.
To restitution and for any personal property obtained in an investigation returned to the victim when the court or prosecution no longer needs the property. To object to a petition for expungement.
To have their confidential communication to a sexual assault counselor remain confidential. Access to Victim Information & Notification Everyday (VINE).
To have a representative exercise the same rights that the victim is entitled to.
You have the following rights in regards to DNA and HIV Testing:
To request testing for yourself and the alleged sexual offender for HIV infection.
To be informed whether a DNA profile was obtained from the testing of the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence.
To be informed whether a DNA profile has been entered into the Utah Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
To be informed whether there is a match between a DNA profile developed from evidence and a DNA profile contained in CODIS, as long as disclosure would not impede or compromise an ongoing investigation.
To designate a person of the victim’s choosing to act as a recipient of the information gathered in HIV infection and DNA testing.
Children who are victims of crime have additional rights:
To be communicated to in age-appropriate language.
To have the process conducted in the most effective and least traumatic, intrusive, and intimidating manner.
To not be questioned, in any manner, nor to have allegations made, implying that they are responsible for inappropriate behavior adults committed against them was the child’s responsibility.
To have interviews related to criminal prosecution kept to a minimum.
To be informed of available community resources that might assist them and how to gain access to those resources.
-
After a sexual assault kit (also known as a forensic exam), you have the right to decide to move forward with an investigation or not. There is no correct path to take, and the Rape Recovery Center fully supports the rights of survivors to make the best decision for themselves.
If you decide to move forward with the investigation, your kit will be released and collected by law enforcement. Any possible DNA evidence is turned into the State Crime Lab within 30 days as required under Utah law.
The following is a general overview of the forensic kit process if you decide to move forward with the sexual assault investigation:
Evidence collected by a medical professional.
Kit transferred to law enforcement.
Law enforcement submits to crime lab.
Crime lab begins to test.
Crime lab determines if sufficient DNA exits for analysis.
DNA Profile is prepared for CODIS or DNA Profile is deemed ineligible for CODIS.
DNA profile uploaded to CODIS.
DNA matches to existing profile in CODIS or DNA has no match but remains in CODIS for potential future hits.
If you decide not to move forward with any further investigation, your kit will not be turned over to law enforcement or sent to the Utah Crime Lab. This is also known as a restricted kit. If you change your mind, you can un-restrict your kit at any time by contacting the appropriate law enforcement agency.
-
The resources listed are a select list of the most common referrals survivors of sexual assault find helpful. For additional resources, please call 211, text 898-211, or go to www.211utah.org.
Download Selected Resources List
Create a Secure, Accessible, Mobile, Information (SAMI) Login )
