Perspectives on responses to sexual assault

Participant 1: Yeah, don’t wash afterwards. Participant 2: Yeah, ’cause the DNA is still on you. Participant 3: Like, if something happened to your friend, you should ask if they showered. […] Participant 1: If…

[When supporting a survivor], I would say try to be less formal – be informal! Like, act as if you care and are not just asking me because you have to […]. And don’t come…

Facilitator: Do you think that you would visit a counsellor’s office to ask for help if something like this happened? Participant 1: Here? Facilitator: Yeah. Participant 1: I’ve never been there, but honestly, no. Participant…

Participant 1: So, question: Who are the people who work in there? Do they work for the school? Facilitator: Yeah. Participant1: What if they go talking to their friend and say, “oh, I have this…

I feel as though there should be a little more, I guess, options. Like, when you go to some medical center, you should have the option of either going to a male or female doctor,…

So, what I got from the policy is that with the other option, disclosing, that’s the only way you can be anonymous. Like, if you report it, it can’t be anonymous as well. You have…

How long after the incident are you allowed to report? Like, is there a timeframe that you have to report by? Or, let’s say that it happened months ago, can I still report it, or…

Does the victim have any word or say? Is there, like, different levels of sexual violence to somewhat determine the consequences? Because the policy currently states that the consequences may include but are not limited…

[Some things I would ask myself if a friend came to be for support following a sexual assault would be:] are they willing to come forward and talk about what happened to them? How do…

I know, like, when you think about sexual assault, you are like “Oh my gosh, we have to go and report this now.” I am being their friend first and then figuring out which steps,…