Safety

If you’ve just been raped or sexually assaulted, try to be somewhere that feels safe. If you are in danger, call 999. If you can, see if a friend or someone that you trust can be with you.

Physical health

• Keep warm. If you need medical attention, contact your doctor, A&E or phone NHS 24 on 111 or visit the NHS 24 website.
• It may be a good idea to get tested for any sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as prompt treatment can prevent you from becoming ill later. If you do have an STI, treatment can prevent you from becoming more seriously ill. You can be tested at the Shetland Sexual Health and Wellbeing Clinic. They will offer you fully confidential information, treatment and advice. You do not need a letter from your doctor. You will have to return for any test results. You do not have to give your name or say that you have been raped or sexually assaulted. You can take a friend with you for support or a support worker from the Compass Centre may be able to go to this appointment with you.
• If you wash yourself, use safe products, not household cleaning products as they can harm you.
• If there is a possibility of pregnancy you may want to take the ‘morning after pill’ (two kinds: up to 72 hours/3 days after or up to 120 hours/5 days after) or have a coil fitted (up to 5 days after). You can buy the oral contraceptive pill at a pharmacy or get this from a GP or the Shetland Sexual Health and Wellbeing Clinic. If you get the pill over the counter from a pharmacist there will be a charge. This can be up to £25.
• You may want to do a pregnancy test. Your GP or the sexual health clinic. You can also buy pregnancy testing kits in pharmacies and supermarkets. They are accurate approximately 2-3 weeks after conception.
• If you think you would like to report the incident to the police, phone 101 or 999 and keep evidence.
• You might not feel like reporting now, but you might in time. So keep the clothes you were wearing at the time of the assault or anything else that might have evidence (blood, saliva, semen). Don’t wash these things. Put them in a clean plastic or paper bag.

Mental Health

You may be in shock after what has happened. Sexual violence is traumatic, and something that can take time to process and heal from. Sexual violence affects different people in all sorts of different ways. Visit our resources section for more help.