If he is living with you…

The first step is finding a safe place to plan your next steps. If you are in immediate danger, please call 911 and our 24-hour crisis line 604 872 8212.

If you currently live with the man who attacked you and you need a safe place to go, transition houses provide shelter specifically for women immediately escaping violent situations (including sexual violence). A list of transition houses in British Columbia can be found here. If you need help in finding somewhere safe to stay, please give us a call 604 872 8212.

If you are not safe at home, you’ll want to find somewhere safe and private where you can make calls. Calling a crisis line or transition house will take some time, and you’ll need to be able to speak about your situation to crisis workers safely. This could be at a friend or family member’s place, a rape crisis centre (like us), community centre, library – it can be anywhere that you are safe and ideally, have a little privacy.

If he is a schoolmate, coworker, boss, someone who has access to you outside of your home…

We understand it can be distressing to come into contact with your attacker again. He could also be a risk to your physical safety.

If possible, we suggest you contact a trusted manager right away and request a few days off to plan and recover (as an employee, you are entitled to 5 days of paid leave for sexual violence). That being said, we understand that not everyone has the financial security to take time off work and sudden absences for school can create problems.

It can also be difficult to talk about what happened. If you’re not sure what to do or want to think through your options, call us at 604 872 8212 so we can strategize together. If it’s a school, there are generally counsellors you can talk to that will help you with getting accommodations.

UBC Sexual Assault Support Centre

UBC Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office

SFU Sexual Violence Support and Prevention Office

Unfortunately, reporting to a workplace, school, or organization, does not always result in the attacker being removed. But depending on the school, workplace, institution, there could be different ways to limit his future contact with you.

• At school, this can include asking for accommodations for deadlines or course deferrals, but it depends on school policy.
• At a workplace, this can include reporting the attack to a manager and seeing if they will suspend him pending their investigation, or requesting a different work schedule so your shifts do not overlap with his.

If you have access, you’ll want to review any relevant workplace policies and try your best to follow them. Before telling a manager, it’s best to be prepared by writing down basic facts about what happened and what your requests are.

We know this can feel overwhelming and you don’t have to navigate this alone. Please give us a call at 604 872 8212 for support

If you live in BC and have been sexually assaulted, you can speak with a lawyer and get free legal information with Stand Informed.

If you require a note from a medical facility for absence or accommodations, Embrace Clinic may be able to provide this for you.