In Los Angeles County, SART/SARC programs are required by law to operate in conjunction with a licensed general acute care hospital, a licensed basic emergency department or a hospital sponsored program clinic that has met specific requirements approved by the County of Los Angeles to receive patients who are victims of sexual assault/abuse.

Although the LAC hospital is geographically closer to the University Park Campus (8 miles) than Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center (13 miles) and is served by USC physicians, the volume of patients and wait time at a large hospital can be much higher. The situation is also more complex in terms of USC students who are in the medical programs, raising confidentiality concerns for students who are practicing employees during clinical rotations.

The Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center provides the additional advantage of evidence that is frozen and stored in perpetuity. There is no cost to clients and no charges appear on insurance billing.

If you think you may have been assaulted while incapacitated/unconscious, we encourage that you still contact an advocate to explore your medical concerns and forensic options as soon as possible after the incident. For more information regarding drug and alcohol facilitated sexual assaults contact an RSVP advocate.

USC also refers students to YWCA of Greater Los Angeles, Sexual Assault Crisis Services Program, and Peace Over Violence. These centers provide crisis intervention services, sexual trauma counseling, and advocacy services but do not provide SART/SARC services nor acute medical services. These organizations, especially Peace Over Violence, have provided reliable and professional services to students.

However, they service the broad public community of Los Angeles and are not specialized for support issues related to college students, such as academic accommodations, emergency housing on campus, Title IX reporting, counseling services, etc. This is why the advocates in Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention and Services may serve as a better navigational resource for students.

There are a lot of factors that might impact when and if you feel ready to share and who you might want to share with. You have no obligation to disclose your experience to anyone, unless you want to. If you want to talk out this scenario with a confidential resource give our Advocates a call or make an appointment on MySHR.

Remember that it can be difficult to disclose so make sure you thank the friend for sharing their experience with you, listen to them, and support them. You can find more tips on how to support a survivor here. Be sure to inform them about resources available to them if they are interested.

Many survivors need additional services beyond the support that a friend can provide, so it can be helpful to learn about the resources available such as RSVP Advocates and Counselors and share that information with your friend. Everyone heals in their own way so never push or force them to contact resources.

Survivors should always have the power to define their own experiences. You can always empower your friend by sharing your knowledge about definitions, resources, and any other information that you think may be helpful, but it is important that survivors are able to define their own experiences however is most comfortable for them.