4 Things You Can Do to Help a Friend Take Care of Their Health After a Sexual Assault (trigger warning)

1. Give them information on their risk reduction options.

For pregnancy, they could:

• Take an Emergency Contraception pill (asap, within 5 days of the incident) to prevent conception, or
• Get a copper intrauterine device (IUD) inserted to their uterus (within 5 days of the incident) to prevent conception and have long-term contraception coverage.
  
  

For HIV, they could:

• Take Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) pills daily (starting within 3 days of the incident) for one month to greatly lower their chances of getting HIV if their rapist has it. (Note: Some people experience severe side effects from PEP, but many experience no side effects. Either way, it’s better than getting HIV.)

2. Help them figure out how to pay for the above options, and for health care visits. Call their insurance company and pretend to be them. Look into compensation options from the U.S. Office for Victims of Crime.

3. Go with them to the doctor, clinic, or pharmacy to get treatment and/or medication.

4. Force their rapist to get tested for STIs, and go with him/her/them (with your friend’s permission). (Note: STIs often don’t show up right away on tests, so if they got something recently it could show up as a false negative. But it’s useful information if they do test positive for something.)

Bonus thing you can do: Talk about it with them. Read 6 things to say if your friend tells you they were raped.