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Caucasian Female

Making sure she was feeling okay and fully comfortable

I want to make her feel as comfortable as she can in doing whatever she feels like she needs to do. I don't know, because you can't put yourself in that other person's shoes, so I remember that I was like, "what would I do if I was her?" I can't even imagine that. I remember thinking, "I don't know what this is like," but my main thing was making sure that she was feeling okay and fully comfortable with doing everything. As she told more of her friends, as it spread through the friend group, there was a lot of really strong opinions saying, "You need to do this now! And this tomorrow! And tell this person!" I was always the person who asked her, "do you really want to do this?" So, I feel like that's an important job- making sure that the person is entirely okay with what they are about to do.

Recommendations

  • Within the policy and educational materials, provide information about possible timeframes for the completion of an investigation into a report of sexual assault. Deliver regular, scheduled updates on investigations to complainants and respondents. Such updates should be integrated into the policy.