4.3.4.1 Interview and Forms

There are many forms that the healthcare provider needs to fill in in order to detail their information and the survivor’s information, including the hospital name and the date and time of the exam.

The survivor will need to complete a consent and release form indicating that they understand and consent to what will be done in the exam, and they only need to consent to the parts with which they feel comfortable.

The survivor has every right to refuse the parts of the exam with which they do not feel comfortable.

It’s important for the healthcare provider to get as much detail as possible about what happened.

For example, if the survivor waited hours or even days before coming to the health center or if they showered before coming to the health center, this is important information to know, as it will affect the evidence collected.

When a healthcare provider takes the survivor’s history, this is to help the provider diagnose and treat the survivor and to direct the collection of evidence.

The consent and release forms ask the survivor detailed questions about their sexual history, general health and drug and alcohol use to develop a picture of the event and what happened.

There are male and female diagrams, and the health provider will ask the survivor about injuries they have on their body and make marks on the diagram where there may be bruises, scratches or other injuries.

All of this is to create a picture, for the prosecution, of what happened during the sexual assault because if the case goes to trial, months later, these marks will no longer be visible.