Sexual assault can come in many forms, both physical and emotional. Many people survive sexual abuse daily, yet it is often intimidating to seek any type of support. It’s crucial for survivors to receive support in varying forms—emotional, physical, legal, and more. If you’ve found yourself needing support but don’t know where or how to seek it out, don’t worry. You aren’t alone; many places are ready to provide resources and comfort.
Know You’re Not Alone
One of the most critical factors to receiving support after a traumatic experience is to realize you aren’t alone. It can be incredibly isolating to survive an assault; you may feel as if no one truly understands what you went through. Resuming daily activities such as work, chores, or friendships can be challenging.
Accepting that what happened to you was not okay but you aren’t alone can help you open up and start the transition to taking your life back. There are nearly 500,000 sexual assault survivors yearly. Your friends, family, mental health professionals, other survivors, and other professional support are here with you to help you get back on track.
How to Find a Therapist?
Many people believe that they can manage their mental health after an assault on their own; this is true, but a therapist can help provide tools and positive thought processes to manage their mental health more efficiently. Therapists will listen to your experiences with professionalism, neutrality, and privacy. A psychiatrist can even provide medication that can help you manage symptoms of anxiety or depression stemming from the assault.
You can find a great therapist in your area or through telehealth by reading reviews and listening to recommendations from friends or family. A good therapist will be an unbiased but supportive listener who gives you the tools to continue your life with happiness and strength.
Support and Crisis Hotlines
Some survivors do not feel they have a supportive friend or family group to turn to. You may have recently moved to a new town, prefer a solitary lifestyle, or feel your friends aren’t as supportive. Crisis support hotlines exist for this reason. They provide free, unbiased support and can help connect you with resources you may need (legal, financial, and housing) to continue your life. You can look for local support chat or voice hotlines and utilize national ones such as RAINN.
Report the Abuse
A great way to feel supported after an assault is to know that your abuser is paying for their crime. If you feel comfortable, you can report the abuse to law enforcement to start an investigation. You can contact a lawyer if you are worried about reporting it alone. Your lawyer can help you retain anonymity as well.
Connect With a Support Group
One of the best forms of support a survivor can receive is through fellow survivors. You may have a few friends who have dealt with similar situations. Connect and talk with them when you are both comfortable to do so. Alternatively, you can find local sexual assault survivor support groups where you can tell your story to those who have been in your shoes. You can listen to others and provide mutual support. Your therapist can connect you with support groups in your area. An online search can be valuable for this as well.
Consider a Lawyer
Support doesn’t always have to be emotional or physical—sometimes, you need legal support. Surviving sexual abuse can make it challenging to resume daily life, especially when you’ve had to pay extensively for therapy, medical treatment, legal counsel, and more. Further, if criminal charges aren’t brought against the abuser, it can be worrying and frightening.
You can consult with a lawyer to establish a criminal or civil case against your abuser to help mitigate some of the financial damage. A criminal case will pursue criminal charges against the abuser; if won, the abuser would face jail time, fines, or other legal punishment. A civil case is a non-criminal lawsuit that, if won, would require the abuser to pay for damages, typically financially.
It may be scary to consider a lawsuit, but an attorney can help you remain anonymous and provide legal resources tailored to your needs. Many types of attorneys specialize in handling sexual assault cases, whether the abuser is an individual or part of a large organization, like a church. A clergy sexual abuse lawyer can help you hold the individual or church member accountable for their crimes. Attorneys will keep your information private and secure and provide the necessary legal support.
The Power of Friends or Family
If you have friends or family members you trust and feel comfortable talking with, spend time with them. Even if you don’t feel like opening up about your trauma, quality time can help distract you from complicated feelings and symptoms. Friend or family connections can serve as excellent support through distraction alone. Humans are social creatures, especially in times of hardship.
Practice Self-Care
While seeking external support is essential for recovering after an assault, it’s also important to take care of yourself. One of the best ways to do this is through self-care practices. Many people imagine self-care as buying a treat or a relaxing bubble bath. While those activities can be considered self-care, this isn’t always what it looks like.
Self-care refers to the practice of taking care of your physical and emotional needs. Sometimes, self-care is cleaning up your bedroom when clutter is harming your mental health, or cooking a nice meal after disordered eating. Evaluate what you need for your physical and mental health to recover, and you can take small steps to improve your life through self-care.
