WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED
1. Get Help This is not the time to be alone. If there is no one to go to, call someone you can talk to, no matter how late it is. You can always find and talk to a Resident Assistant, Resident Director, or any member of the Student Affairs Staff.
2. Get Medical Attention
Any student who feels he/she has been sexually assaulted should call
911, go to the Emergency Room at Raleigh General Hospital, or go to the Student
Health Clinic in Life Sciences Building.
The sooner a sexual assault is reported, the easier it is to collect valuable evidence and initiate support services for the victim. Within 96 hours of the assault, the medical evaluation and rape evidence exam are available through a local hospital. If you decide to press charges, physical specimens collected soon after the rape will be valuable evidence. Completing the evidence collection does not commit you to filing charges.
To facilitate evidence collection the victim:
- Should not bathe or douche
- Should not eat or brush their teeth if oral contact has occurred.
- Should place soiled clothing in a paper bag to be taken to the emergency room or
police department
Medical attention is crucial for assessing internal injuries, sexually transmitted diseases, and possible pregnancy.
The victim or friend may also contact the Women’s Resource Center to request an advocate.
- 24 Hour Hotline: 1.888.825.7835
- www.wrcwv.org
3. Report the assault
Report the assault to Campus Police or a University official, whether or not you
plan to file charges. (Reporting a rape does NOT commit you to filing
charges. You can make that decision later.) Have someone go with you. You can go
the next day, but the sooner the better. Sexual assault is a crime and we encourage
all victims to report.
Victims and/or witnesses are strongly encouraged to report the assault to the WVU Title IX Coordinator:
- Mr. James Goins
Director of Equity Assurance and Title IX Coordinator
WVU Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
P.O. Box 6202
1085 Van Voorhis Road
Morgantown, WV 26506
Phone: 304.293.5600
Email: james.goins@mail.wvu.edu
If the assault takes place off campus, students and/or victims should call 911 to contact Raleigh County Sheriff, Beckley Police Department, or the WV State Police.
You may also file a Title IX compliant electronically or anonymously through the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
4. Consider whether you want to file charges with the Police and/or through the West Virginia University Institute of Technology Dean of Students Office.The following is a list of contacts:
- University Police: 304.929.2677 or 911
- WVU Tech Dean of Students Office: 304.929.1232
- Beckley Police Department: 304.256.1720 or 911
- Raleigh County Sheriff: 304.255.9300
- WV State Police: 304.779.2161 or 911
- WVU Tech Counseling Services: 304.929.1237
- Reach: 304.340.3676
- Women’s Resource Center: 304.255.2559 or 1.888.825.7836
- National Sexual Violence Hotline: 1.800.656.HOPE
- WVU Sexual Assault/Education Specialist: 304.293.1377
