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Next Steps

After making your initial decisions, you may still have questions about your options.

If you reported to the police:

You can contact the police department in the city or town where the assault happened. An officer in this department should be able to provide you with information about your case. You can also contact a victim witness advocate in the District Attorney's Office.

  • If you had toxicology testing done, the results of your toxicology test will go to the detective assigned to your case approximately twelve weeks after the test was collected. An advocate in the District Attorney's Office may also be able to provide you with this information.
  • Your sexual assault evidence collection kit will be analyzed and stored at a Crime Lab. The investigating police department or District Attorney's office may be able to explain how the evidence gathered during your sexual assault exam will be used.
  • A sexual assault exam does not deliver results or answers. The exam may or may not show any physical evidence. If physical evidence is not found, it does not mean that nothing happened. It just means that there was no physical evidence present at the time of evidence collection.

If you did not report to the police:

  • If you had a sexual assault exam done at a hospital and did not report to the police, your kit will be stored for the statute of limitations. For more information, call an advocate at the Forensic Information Line at 866-463-3799.
  • If you had toxicology testing done and did not report the assault to the police, you can call the Toxicology Results Reporting Line, 866-269-4265, anytime after twelve weeks from your visit to the hospital to find out about the test results.
  • If you did not have a sexual assault exam done, you can still file a report with your local police department.
  • Your local rape crisis center is always available for advocacy and support.
Forensics for Survivors © 2015 All Rights Reserved

This project was supported by Grant #2009-WF-AX-0014 awarded by the Violence Against Women Grants Office, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety & Security Office of Grants & Research and subgranted to the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center. Points of view in this document are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice or the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety Programs Division.


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