Many terms are explained throughout the protocol to clarify the context in which they are used.21 However, it may be helpful to discuss briefly the following terms in advance (in alphabetical order): Adolescent: Adolescents are distinguished in the protocol from prepubertal children who require a pediatric exam. This document focuses on the examination of females who have experienced the onset of menarche and males who have reached puberty. However, it is important to recognize that age also plays a role in whether a person is treated as a child or adolescent. For example, some adolescent girls may not start menstruating until their later teen years. While the physical developmental level of these patients must be taken into account when performing the exam, they should otherwise be treated as adolescents rather than children. Legally, jurisdictions vary in the age at which they consider individuals to be minors, laws on child sexual abuse, mandatory reporting policies for sexual abuse and assault of minors, instances in which minors can consent to treatment and evidence collection without parental/guardian involvement, and the scope of confidentiality that minors are afforded. Involved responders should be well versed in their jurisdictional laws and policies regarding the above issues, screening procedures for determining whether a pediatric exam is needed (particularly in the case of younger adolescents), and local protocols for response to prepubertal victims. Exam sites are to follow the jurisdictional laws regarding parental/guardian consent. 20 For example, evidence that identifies a suspect in a stranger case, such as DNA evidence, is critical to the continuing investigation. In cases in which the victim knows the suspect, evidence that identifies suspects is important if suspects claim they had no sexual contact with victims. In cases in which suspects claim that victims consented to the sexual contact, evidence identifying suspects is less crucial and evidence and documentation related to whether force or coercion was used against victims is often more important. 21 Keep in mind that these definitions may vary from those used generally or in exam protocols developed by states, territories, tribes, and local communities. 15 Communitywide sexual assault coordinating councils: These multidisciplinary groups typically work to facilitate a communitywide response to sexual assault that is appropriate, coordinated, and comprehensive. They tend not to be involved in direct response, but rather endeavor to improve overall services, interventions, and prevention efforts. Communitywide coordinating council is a broad term for such a group, but possibilities are endless for what a jurisdiction may call such a group. This group may be a subcommittee of an entity that more generally promotes coordinated response to violence in the community. Coordinated community response: This term refers to immediate and longer term community response to sexual assault that is coordinated among involved responders. The idea is that while each responder provides services and/or interventions according to agency-specific policies, they also work with responders from other agencies and disciplines to ensure that they coordinate responses. The desired result is a collective response to victims and offenders that is appropriate, streamlined, and as comprehensive as possible. Coordinated community response to sexual assault is a concept that developed out of a need to reduce the historically fragmented approach to these cases and the negative impact of fragmentation on victim well-being, offender accountability, and prevention of future assault. These community responses may be known as sexual assault response teams or sexual assault response and resource teams (SARTs or SARRTs). Culture: This term refers to a body of learned beliefs, traditions, and guides for behaving and interpreting behavior that may be shared among members of a particular group. Aspects of a culture include its values, beliefs, customs, communication styles, behaviors, practices, and institutions.22 In this document, a cultural group refers not only to an ethnic, racial, or religious group, but also to other groups with distinct cultures such as senior citizen; Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities; populations with differing sexual orientations, gender identities, or gender expressions; immigrants; refugees; the homeless; military personnel and their dependents; adolescents; prison inmates; and victims of sex trafficking or victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Individuals often belong to multiple cultural groups. An immediate response to victims should sensitively and appropriately address their related cultural needs and concerns. It is important that responders acknowledge that victims from certain cultures in a community may be underserved, unserved, or misserved by the systems responsible for response and should work to improve response to these populations. Disability: A person with a disability is an individual who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one of more of that individual’s major life activities, who has a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having such impairment. Major life activities include, but are not limited to, caring for oneself, performing