Alliance: How SAFE is NYC? Sexual Assault Services in Emergency Departments
How SAFE is NYC? Sexual Assault Services in Emergency Departments
How SAFE is NYC? Sexual Assault Services in Emergency Departments is the first comprehensive research report from the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault on New York City's acute care response to sexual violence. [[1] Read the full report (pdf)][[2] Go to the press kit]
Background
Public attention was drawn to the development of Sexual Assault Examiner Programs in 1994, when Anna Quindlen described the Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program in a New York Times editorial (October 19, 1994). Quindlen contrasted the Tulsa program with a negative experience reported by a rape survivor in a Brooklyn hospital. She was writing about a problem well understood by rape crisis advocates: how getting help sometimes made it worse for rape victims.
Ten years later, Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) programs, as they are known in New York, have come to national prominence as one way to accomplish the collaboration between victim advocates, the healthcare sector and the criminal justice system promoted by the Violence Against Women Act. However, it is clear that optimal medical care and forensic evidence collection still do not routinely occur in hospital emergency departments.
New York City has more EDs than any other city in the United States. Its large population and concentration of many public and private EDs present unique challenges for the provision of the best care for all sexual assault survivors. This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the acute sexual assault services available through NYC emergency departments.
Methodology
This study was conducted to map what services currently exist in NYC emergency departments (EDs) for patients reporting a sexual assault. ED Directors or SAFE Medical Directors from 39 of the 63 emergency departments in the city were interviewed in-person or by telephone. Randomly chosen practitioners were also interviewed from 23 of the 39 EDs that responded to the survey. The survey consisted of 104 questions on the details of patient care for sexual assault victims in the acute care setting.[[3] Read more about the methodology (pdf)] [[4] Read the survey instrument (pdf)]
[1]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/media/research/bc_2_full.pdf
[2]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/home/nycaasa/stage.nycagainstrape.org/research_bc_1_press.html
[3]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/media/research/bc_2_methodology.pdf
[4]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/media/research/bc_2_survey.pdf
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