protocol will help jurisdictions in their efforts to respond to sexual assault victims in the most competent, compassionate, and understanding manner possible. This protocol was developed with the input of national, local, and tribal experts throughout the country, including law enforcement representatives, prosecutors, advocates, medical personnel, forensic scientists, and others. We hope that this protocol will be useful in helping jurisdictions develop a response that is sensitive to victims of sexual assault and that promotes offender accountability. Specifically, the protocol has the following goals: § Supplement, but not supersede, the many excellent protocols that have been developed by states, tribes, and local jurisdictions, as well as those created at the national level. We hope that this protocol will be a useful tool for jurisdictions wishing to develop new protocols or revise their existing ones. It is intended as a guideline for suggested practices rather than a list of requirements. In many places, the protocol refers to “jurisdictional policies” because there may be multiple valid ways to handle a particular issue and which one is best should be determined by the jurisdiction after consideration of local laws, policies, practices, and needs. § Provide guidance to jurisdictions on responding to adult and adolescent victims. Adolescents are distinguished in the protocol from prepubertal children who require a pediatric exam. Pediatric exams are not addressed in this document. This protocol generally focuses on the examination of females who have experienced the onset of menarche and males who have reached puberty. 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 when minors can consent to treatment and evidence collection without parental/guardian involvement, and the scope of confidentiality that minors are afforded. If the adolescent victim is a minor under the jurisdictional laws, the laws of the jurisdiction governing issues such as consent to the exam, mandatory reporting, and confidentiality should be followed. • Support the use of coordinated community responses to sexual violence, such as Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) or Sexual Assault Response and Resource Teams (SARRTs). Although 1 Carolyn Ham, Reducing Language Barriers to Combating Domestic Violence: The Requirements of Title VI, Battered Women’s Justice Project, October 2004, http://new.vawnet.org/summary.php?doc_id=1621&find_type=web_desc_GC. 2 Paragraph adapted in part from the Ohio Protocol for Sexual Assault Forensic and Medical Examination, 2004, p. 2. http://www.odh.ohio.gov/~/media/ODH/ASSETS/Files/hprr/sexual%20assult/adultprotocol2011.ashx. 2 this document is directed primarily toward medical personnel and facilities, it also provides guidance to other key responders such as advocates and law enforcement representatives. This type of coordinated community response is supported by the Violence Against Women Act and subsequent legislation. Such a response can help afford victims access to comprehensive immediate care, minimize the trauma victims may experience, and encourage them to utilize community resources. It can also facilitate the criminal investigation and prosecution, increasing the likelihood of holding offenders accountable and preventing further sexual assaults. § Address the needs of victims while promoting the criminal justice system response. Stabilizing, treating, providing social and legal services, including knowledge of immigration protections, and engaging victims as essential partners in the criminal investigation are central aspects of the protocol. Thus, this protocol includes information about concepts such as “anonymous reporting,” which may give victims needed time to decide if and when they are ready to engage in the criminal justice process. An anonymous report may also provide law enforcement agencies with potentially useful information about sex crime patterns in their jurisdictions.3 The objective is to promote better and more victim-centered4 evidence collection, in order to provide better assistance in court proceedings and hold more offenders accountable. § Promote high-quality, sensitive, and supportive exams for all victims, regardless of jurisdiction and geographical location of service provision. The protocol offers recommendations to help standardize the quality of care for sexual assault victims throughout the country and is based on the latest scientific evidence. It also promotes timely evidence collection that is accurately and methodically gathered, so that high-quality evidence is available in court. This protocol discusses the roles of the following responders: health care providers, advocates, law enforcement representatives, forensic scientists, and prosecutors, as well as interpreters. Clearly, each of these professions has a distinct and complementary role in responding to sexual assault. But rather than dictate who is responsible for every component of the response or within the exam process, the protocol is designed to help communities consider what each procedure involves and any related issues. With this