4.1 An Overview of Medical Advocacy

Medical treatment for survivors of sexual assault covers three important areas:

1. Antibiotic treatment to prevent sexually-transmitted infections,

2. Antiretrovirals to reduce the likelihood of contracting HIV, and

3. Emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy.

Before prescribing treatment, a healthcare provider will need to do a medical exam to evaluate the survivor for external or internal injuries.

It’s essential that the survivor give informed consent prior to the medical exam and that they consent again during each stage of it.

The medical exam can feel very intrusive and is often re-traumatizing for survivors, so it needs to be handled slowly and with sensitivity.

During the medical exam, the healthcare provider documents and collects forensic evidence from the survivor, whose body is treated as a crime scene. This can be done even if the survivor is not ready to report the sexual assault to law enforcement, and even if they are not considering prosecuting the crime.