Recent

Are You A Recent Victim?

Your Choices

I DO NOT want to report this to the police

  • Call The Bridgeway on 0808 118 6432 (24hr support line)
  • A Crisis Worker will listen to what has happened to you and explain how we can help and what options are available to you.
  • If you decide you want a Forensic Medical Examination we can arrange for a doctor or nurse to examine you to check you are ok and look for forensic evidence and take samples (swabs/blood tests)
  • We can store forensic samples at the SARC. If you decide to report to the police at a later point the samples can be used as evidence in their investigation
  • You can have an examination even if you have already washed, although there will be more DNA evidence on your body if you feel able to wait until after an examination
  • We will make sure that your sexual health is looked after
  • We can give you emergency contraception if needed
  • We will offer you practical and emotional support, including referring you to counselling if that is what you want
  • If you don’t want a medical examination we can still offer you help and support, we can refer you to Sexual health and counselling services if you want us to.

I WANT to report this to the police

  • Call the police on 101 or 999 if you are in immediate danger
  • A specially trained officer will come to speak with you
  • The officer may call the call centre to arrange for a doctor or nurse to examine you to check you are ok and to look for and retrieve forensic evidence. The examination will take place at The Bridgeway.
  • You can have an examination even if you have already washed, although there will be more DNA evidence on your body if you feel able to wait until after an examination
  • We will make sure that your sexual health is looked after and make referrals if you wish
  • We can give you emergency contraception if needed
  • After you leave The Bridgeway an Independent Sexual Violence Adviser (ISVA) can support you with the police investigation
  • We will offer you practical and emotional support including counselling.

If you have been a victim of rape or sexual assault in the last 7 days, we understand how scared and confused you might be and how difficult you may be finding it to speak to someone about it.

You do not have to cope with this alone. The Bridgeway is here to help you. We have a team of specially trained and dedicated crisis workers who understand how difficult it can be to talk about and what impact rape and sexual assault can have on people’s lives.

It can be difficult at this time of crisis to think clearly about your choices – though it may not feel like it, you still have options available to you.

The Bridgeway is independent of any other agency so you do not have to worry about the police or any other agency or person (including your loved ones) finding out about your assault. Our staff will treat anything you say to them with confidentiality*.

If the assault was more than seven days ago then the evidential benefits of a forensic medical examination are likely to be very limited. In some circumstances, however, there may be a good reason to carry out an examination, either to set your mind at rest regarding injury or to secure some evidence of historic injury. Even if you don’t need or want such an examination there are many services such as counselling or ISVA that would be of benefit to you and we can arrange those services for you. It may be that we refer you to the most appropriate local support organisation to provide this.

For advice or to make an appointment contact us on 0808 118 6432 (24 hours a day 7 days a week).

Are You in Immediate Danger?

If you are in immediate danger it is important that you call the Police on 999 or 101 in a non-emergency.

*We may need to break confidentiality if we believe you or someone else is at risk of serious harm. We would keep you informed of this wherever possible. We will need to share information with other agencies if we believe a child has been or is at risk of serious harm.*