Sexual Violence Prevention and Education

Mission

The Lincoln University Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT) is committed to promoting awareness, creating and providing training, programs, advocacy, policy review, and recommendations that contribute to reducing the incidences of sexual violence (including domestic/dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and gender-based violence) to enhance campus community wellness.

The CCRT

The Lincoln University Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT) is committed to promoting awareness, creating and providing training, programs, and policies to reduce the incidences of sexual violence (including domestic/dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and gender-based violence) to enhance campus community wellness. The CCRT consists of faculty, staff, and nominated student leaders as well as community members, such as The Crime Victims’ Center of Chester County, Domestic Violence Center of Chester County, and the District Attorney’s Office. The team collaborates with departments and student organizations on campus to nurture and promote individual and campus community action to reduce sexual and interpersonal violence.

Knowledge is Power!

If you are sexually assaulted:

Know

• Sexual assault is never the victim’s fault. If you have been sexually assaulted, help is available. There are steps you can take to get treatment for potential injuries, minimize further harm to your health, and collect evidence in case you choose to report it to the police.

Do

• Reach out for help. You don’t have to go through this alone. If you have a friend or family member you trust and can ask to accompany you when you seek medical treatment, do so. You also can find help near you or chat with someone anonymously on RAINN’s website. 
• Save potential evidence. You don’t have to decide right away whether you want to report your assault as a crime.
  • But in case you later decide to do so, it is important that you avoid disturbing or getting rid of anything that may have the attacker’s DNA on it, such as clothing or anything else at the scene of the assault.
  • This also means avoiding cleaning your body, using the bathroom, or changing your clothes before receiving medical treatment.
  • While this can be difficult following such a traumatic experience, it will help preserve potential evidence.
  • Not all medical facilities have employees trained in providing care for people who have been sexually assaulted, so seeking care from a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) is ideal. A SANE is a registered nurse who has been specially trained to care for sexual assault victims, which also means they can perform a forensic exam and provide expert testimony if a case goes to trial.
• The sooner you get to a medical facility, the better — especially if you later decide to prosecute. In some parts of the country, evidence of a sexual assault must be collected within 72 hours of the assault. In other areas, evidence can be collected as much as 5 days or 1 week afterward.

Don’t

• Douche, don’t take a shower, don’t change your clothes … because [examiners] are going to be able to get more of the DNA evidence: stuff from your fingernails, swabs from the vagina, swabs from your mouth. Source: www.healthcentral.com/article/what-to-do-after-sexual-assault-first-step

Bystander

• If someone shares, they have been sexually assaulted, it’s likely to have been one of the hardest things they have ever had to tell you.

Know who to call, where to go, & who to see!

Off-Campus

• Sexual Assault-Crime Victims’ Center of Chester County 24/7 hotline 610-692-7273
• Domestic Violence Center of Chester County, 24/7 hotline 888-711-6270
• Chester County Hospital – Emergency Room - 610 431-5550 / Christiana Hospital – Emergency Room – 302 733-1000

On-Campus

• Counseling Services (Confidential)-Offers free and confidential individual and group counseling, crisis interventions, and workshops. 484-365-7244 – Wellness Center, Suite 221.
  • After hours and weekends contact the Crime Victim Center/Sexual Assault hotline, 610 692-7273 or Domestic Violence hotline, 888 711-6270.
• Health Services (Confidential) - Can provide examinations, discuss testing and treatment of sexuality transmissible infections and can arrange for referrals. 484-365-7338 (7336), Wellness Center Suite 100. Health Services does not provide forensic rape examinations.
• Office of the Chaplin (Confidential) – Offers pastoral support and guidance. 484 365-8075,-Mary Dod Brown Memorial Chapel.
• Women’s Center/Sexual Violence Prevention & Education Program (Confidential) - Provides education and advocacy for survivors of sexual violence and assist survivors with navigating resources. Assist students of all gender identities and orientations. 484-365-7839, Thurgood Marshall Learning Living Center (LLC) Room 212.
• Office of Institutional Equity - Can connect students with academic support, facilitate housing accommodations and other support services. 484-365-7755, Wright Hall, Room 107.
• Public Safety – Implements safety measures for the campus community. 484-365-7211, Public Safety Modular.