How Students Can Get Help

Any member of the campus community who has been a victim of sexual violence on or off campus can receive free, confidential services from the The Virginia Tech Women's Center, Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley (off-campus), and Office for Equal Opportunity. This includes faculty, staff, and students! Their primary focus is to assist victims of sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking, sexual harassment and other sex offenses.

Victims of sexual assault, physical assault, violence, stalking, and cyberstalking tend to feel a variety of conflicting emotions; from numbness, to rage to fear, to depression. Two key points to remember are that it is not your fault and there is help available. In addition to what you can find on this page, you can also find helpful information on your choices and options in our Survivor's Guide.

What to do if you have been a victim of sexual assault

If the sexual assault has happened within the past 24-72 hours:

• Go to a safe place.
• Contact someone who can help you. Call a friend, the VT Women's Center, or the Women's Resource Center 24 hour hotline for support.
• If possible, do not change clothes, shower, bathe, or brush your teeth. If you do change clothes and shower, place clothing in a paper bag and take them with you to the hospital.
• Go to Montgomery Regional Hospital (Blacksburg) or the New River Valley Medical Center (Radford) for a medical exam. Even if you do not think you have any injuries you should consider having a medical examination to make sure there are no physical injuries, and to protect against sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy. If you think you may want to report it to the police, the hospital can also do a forensic examination to collect evidence. If you suspect that you may have been drugged, ask for a drug screen. The Medical Center will contact the Women's Resource Center and a CARE Companion will meet you at the hospital to provide support and information. The CARE Companion services are free.
• Contact the police for information and assistance. The VT Women's Center and Women's Resource Center have advocates who can help you make a police report and go with you to the police department. To make a report about an on-campus assault, notify the Virginia Tech Police Department (540-231-6411). To report an off-campus assault, contact the Blacksburg Police Department (540-961-1150).

If the sexual assault is in the recent or distant past:

• Consider talking with a counselor who is trained to assist students with the emotional and physical impacts of an assault. You can call the VT Women's Center, the Women's Resource Center, and/or Cook Counseling Center.
• Consider your three legal and judicial options: University Judicial Hearing, Criminal prosecution, and Civil Prosecution. Remember the VT Women's Center and Women's Resource Center have advocates who can help you understand your options.
• If the assault is effecting your academic performance contact the Dean of Students Office or the VT Women's Center about academic relief.
• Remember that it is not your fault and help is available.

What to do if you have been physically assaulted

• If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Contact someone who can help you. Call a friend, or the Virginia Tech Women's Center at 231-7806 and the Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley's 24-hour hotline (639-1123) can offer support and guidance. Both offer free and confidential services and have advocates that can assist you in making decisions about making a police report and getting medical care.
• Consider seeking medical care as needed.
• Consider contacting the police for information and assistance and to make a report of the assault. If the assault happened on campus, call the Virginia Tech Police Department (231-6411), and call the Blacksburg police Department at 961-1150 if it happened off campus.
• Consider making a report to the Office of Judicial Affairs, or filling an anonymous report to the Virginia Tech Police Department at this site.
• If you are having trouble attending classes or completing your academic assignments, papers, and/or exams, contact the Dean of Students Office or the VT Women's Center for help with academic relief.

What to do if you are being stalked or harassed

• If you are in eminent danger, go to a safe place and call 911.
• Consider talking with a counselor. A counselor can assist you in accessing resources and developing a plan for your safety. You can call the Virginia Tech Women's Center or the Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley for free and confidential services.
• Consider contacting the police, the VT Office of Judicial Affairs, or the equal Opportunity Office to file a report. (You may file an anonymous report to the Virginia Tech Police Department on this site.)

What to do if you are being harassed or stalked electronically

• Take all identifying information off of People Search (the VT online directory) and consider changing your email address.
• To take your information off of PeopleSearch, log onto Hokie Spa, click on the Hokie Plus link, and change the options under the Confidentiality Options link.
• To change your email address or your PID, contact 4-Help. Save all emails and electronic correspondence with full header information. Send all electronic correspondence to abuse@vt.edu.
• If the messages are coming through AOL, Hotmail, and/or Yahoo, etc., report iot to the service procider as they can deny him/her use of services.
• Visit online sites such as W.H.O.A. (Working to Halt Online Abuse) at www.haltabuse.org for more information.

For all these situations, you have the option to receive medical care

Victims of very recent assaults should go to Montgomery Regional Hospital (Blacksburg) or the Carilion New River Valley Medical Center (Radford) for a physical exam and the collection of evidence. All victims should be seen by a medical professional to check for sexually transmitted diseases, physical trauma, and possible pregnancy. NRVMC has forensic nurse examiners who are specially trained in evidence collection.

If you have been sexually assaulted, do not change your clothes, shower, eat, or drink between the assault and the trip to the emergency room.

The hospital will notify the Women's Resource Center of Radford (639-1123), who will supply you with a CARE (Crisis Advocates Responding Effectively) companion at the hospital. The CARE companion will look after your needs, will help direct you to available services and will answer your questions. If you suspect you have been drugged, it is important to be tested ASAP as many of the drugs will only stay in your system for 48 hours or less.

Virginia Tech students can receive all routine medical services through Schiffert Health Center. However, the center cannot collect evidence and will refer victims to a local hospital. The Women's Clinic of Schiffert Health Center offers gynecological care, including pregnancy testing, as well as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. Even if no symptoms are apparent, victims are still strongly encouraged to seek medical attention.

For all these situations, you have the option of support & counseling

The Virginia Tech Women's Center
206 Washington Street (0270)
Blacksburg, VA 24061
540) 231-7806
womctr@vt.edu
www.womenscenter.vt.edu

• Offer the victim crisis intervention, advocacy, support, and individual and group counseling.
• Accompany the victim to medical facilities, law enforcement, court proceedings, and university judicial hearings.
• Inform the victim of criminal, judicial, and civil options to report and adjudicate a crime.
• Explain what counseling options are available both on and off campus.
  Inform the victim about the forensic care and medical attention offered at Montgomery Regional Hospital (Blacksburg) and the New River Valley Medical Center (Radford).
• Assist her or him in finding a safe place to go by reviewing resources available.

Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley
P.O. Box 477
Radford, VA 24143
(540) 639-1123 (24-hour hotline and CARE Companion services)
(540) 639-9592 (administrative offices)
www.wrcnrv.org

• Provide 24-hour hotline services (639-1123) for victims of sexual assault.
• Provide 24-hour crisis intervention by CARE Companion Advocates, including accompaniment to medical facilities and police departments.
• Explain the forensic care offered at Montgomery Regional Hospital and the New River Valley Medical Center.
• Offer shelter facilities for victims of sexual assault.
• Provide individual and group counseling to victims of sexual assault.
• Provide a victim witness assistant to accompany the victim to court proceedings and the Commonwealth Attorney's Office and to guide her or him through the court process.
• If the victim is affiliated with Virginia Tech, explain resources available on campus.
• Discuss the option to file a report with the police department in the jurisdiction where the incident occurred.

Virginia Tech Cook Counseling Center
240 McComas Hall (0108)
Blacksburg, VA 24061
(540) 231-6557
www.ucc.vt.edu

• Provide short-term individual and group counseling for student victims. If long-term counseling is needed, a referral will be made to an off campus counselor.
• Explain that information shared with anyone at the VT Cook Counseling Center about an individual or situation will not be discussed inside or outside Virginia Tech without the written permission of the student. Exceptions to confidentiality are responses to a court order or to a subpoena or instances in which there are serious threats of suicide, homicide, abuse of a minor child, or abuse of an elderly person.
• Offer sexual assault survivors support group.
• Inform the student victim of academic relief available through the VT Dean of Students Office.
• Provide after hours on-call services for student victims.
• Offer assistance and support to others connected with the student victim.
• Explain to the student victim options for counseling services at the VT Women's Center or the Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley.
• Encourage the student victim, when appropriate, to seek medical attention from the VT Schiffert Health Center, Montgomery Regional Hospital, or the New River Valley Medical Center.
• Present the option to the student victim of speaking with the VT Women's Center or the Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley. Explain that an advocate can accompany the victim to the police department or hospital if desired.
• Provide the student victim with a Virginia Tech Survivor's Guide.
• Check with the victim about filing an anonymous report through the stopabuse.vt.edu Website. The staff of the VT Cook Counseling Center can file the anonymous report, with the permission of the victim. If the VT Cook Counseling Center is not the first department with which the victim has had contact, VT Cook Counseling Center staff will verify that the victim has been given the option to file an anonymous report.

Other options exist which have some cost associated with them, such as private therapists. Counseling is crucial to the recovery process, and victims should be encouraged to seek the assistance of qualified professionals, even if many years have elapsed since the assault. As always, though, the choice to seek counseling should be the victim's; she or he will do so when ready.

For all these situations, you have legal & judicial options

Sexual assault, relationship violence, and stalking victims who are students have three judicial options from which to choose: filing criminal charges, filing campus judicial charges, and filing a civil suit for monetary damages. Victims are not limited to just one of these options, but can choose any combination including filing all three types of charges. Below is a brief description of each type of judicial process.

University Judicial System
Office of Judicial Affairs,
108 Dietrick Hall, 231-3790
The Office of Judicial Affairs holds students accountable for unacceptable behavior that violates the standards set for all members of the Virginia Tech community. Members of the Virginia Tech community have the right to hold one another accountable to the standards outlined in the University Policies for Student Life (UPSL). Individuals who feel that a student has violated the UPSL may file a referral with the Office of Judicial Affairs. There is no limitation on when a referral can be filed. This process is entirely separate from the court process, and in cases involving sexual assault, relationship violence, or stalking, a referral will not automatically be filed if charges are filed with the police. Likewise, a student does not have to be prosecuted criminally in order to file a judicial referral.

The Office of Judicial Affairs is particularly concerned about incidents of violence and abuse that occur between students. It is a violation of the UPSL to physically and/or sexually abuse another person. To charge someone with a violation of university policy, the perpetrator must be a VT student. However you do NOT have to be a VT student to bring charges through the University Judicial System. To speak with someone about making a judicial referral please contact the Office of Judicial Affairs.

Criminal
Filing criminal charges requires going to the police. If the incident(s) took place on campus, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Virginia Tech Police. If it happened off-campus, in the town of Blacksburg, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Blacksburg Police.

In Virginia, there is no statute of limitation for filing felony charges. It is best to go to the police as soon as possible after an assault, in order to preserve as much evidence as possible. The police will arrange for the victim to be seen at a local hospital for medical care and evidence collection if applicable. Even if some time has lapsed, the police still encourage victims to come forward. Merely making a report does not mean charges will be filed. A victim has the right to change her/his mind at any time. The Virginia Tech Police Department has a Sensitive Crime Unit with specially trained officers, including female officers, who work with sexual assault victims.

Criminal charges are prosecuted by the state of Virginia, not the individual victim. A commonwealth attorney will argue the case at no cost to the victim. The victim serves as the primary witness to the crime, and her or his testimony is crucial to the case. Criminal cases may take considerable time to proceed through the justice system. Typically, the identity of the victim is protected from the press, although the identity of the accused perpetrator is not.

Civil Court
Sexual assault, relationship violence, and stalking victims have the right to sue the perpetrator or other involved parties for monetary damages. This type of prosecution, which may be pursued alone or in conjunction with criminal and/or campus judicial charges, does require an attorney. As with campus judicial action, the burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence. Victims considering this type of prosecution are advised to consult a private attorney for information

Office for Equal Opportunity
Investigate reports of behavior that may constitute harassment by a contractor or university employee (including student employees).

 

 

Grant statement: This project was supported by grant # 2005-WA-AX-0020 awarded by the Violence Against Women Office, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of View in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

 

 

Last updated 03/29/2007