CAVV: help for sexual assault survivors, no appointment or referral

The CAVV has six mandated tasks: to provide immediate medical and psychological services to victims and survivors; to run safety and sexual violence prevention campaigns; to educate the public about this crime; to change public attitudes toward victims and survivors of sexual violence; to offer prevention, treatment and rehabilitation services; and to collect data on the problem of sexual and domestic violence. It works with a multidisciplinary team of administrative staff, social workers, psychologists, health educators, practicum and internship students, an epidemiologist, an evaluator and coordinators. Beyond direct services, the CAVV manages the inventory of forensic evidence collection kits — the rape kits — and administers and maintains the tracking portal for those kits. It also takes part in the regional sexual violence response and prevention teams and in the Committee for the primary prevention of sexual violence (COOPAS).

The Department of Health page says it without conditions: services are available to every survivor of sexual violence and/or gender violence, their family members and support networks, regardless of age, gender, cultural origin or time elapsed since the assault. Those four exclusions matter because they are precisely the reasons people do not call. There is no age limit and no gender requirement. It does not matter that years have passed. And you do not have to be the person who was assaulted: family and support networks are served too. The geographic area served is all of Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra. No appointment or referral is required.

• None to get in: the CAVV serves without appointment or referral, regardless of age, gender, cultural origin or time elapsed since the assault.Verified against the official source
• Being a survivor of sexual or gender violence, or a family member or part of their support network.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: Call the helpline: 787-765-2285

   It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Through that line the CAVV offers guidance, coordination of immediate services, emergency attention, referrals, crisis interventions, brief interventions, appointment coordination, support counselling and consultations with other professionals. You need no appointment and no referral to call.

2. 2

   Step 2: If it just happened: get somewhere safe

   The Department of Health puts this first: go somewhere safe and call someone you trust to give you help and emotional support. Everything else comes after.

3. 3

   Step 3: What preserves evidence — and what if it is too late

   The Department recommends not bathing, because there is evidence of the assault on your body and your clothes; not eating, drinking or smoking; not combing your hair or douching; and not urinating or defecating before going to the Emergency Room. It suggests putting the clothes you were wearing when the assault happened into a paper bag and taking them to the hospital with you. And then it says, in these words, the most important thing on the whole page: "But if you already did some of those things, it does not matter! You can seek medical help." Nothing you have done closes the door.

4. 4

   Step 4: Seek medical care even if you see no injuries

   The Department warns that there are injuries you cannot see with the naked eye. At the hospital you can get treatment to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and medication to prevent pregnancy, and you can have a medical examination related to the sexual assault to collect evidence, or if you wish, to file a complaint.

5. 5

   Step 5: Reporting is your decision, both ways

   The Department of Health says it both ways and both matter. On one hand: you can report the case to the Police and prevent others from being assaulted, and reporting can help your recovery after the assault. On the other, literally: "But if you decide not to report, that is your right too." The CAVV serves you either way.

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   Step 6: Ask for the services you need, not just the call

   The CAVV’s direct service includes in-person, telephone and virtual guidance for survivors of sexual and domestic violence, their families and support networks; in-person and telephone advocacy for medical, legal, social and other services; support counselling; individual and group psychotherapy; crisis intervention; and accompaniment. That last one — accompaniment — is the one most people do not know to ask for.

7. 7

   Step 7: If a child is involved

   The CAVV offers a Parenting Skills Workshop for parents and guardians of minors who are victims of sexual violence and/or witnesses of domestic violence. And in the Fajardo and Mayagüez regions it runs the Centers for Protection, Investigation, Treatment and Intervention (PITI Centers), which assess a referred child’s situation on an interdisciplinary basis through forensic interviews, medical evaluation and psychological treatment, with social work and advocacy, psychological services, interviews to substantiate allegations or suspicions of sexual abuse, forensic medical evaluation and support services for non-offending relatives or caregivers.

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   Step 8: And if a kit was taken, you can track it

   The CAVV distributes and maintains the inventory of forensic evidence collection kits, and administers the tracking portal for forensic evidence collection kits in sexual violence cases. This site covers that portal in a separate guide; if you do not have your kit number, the CAVV line is precisely the route.

Helpline 24/7: 787-765-2285. The programme keeps offices in San Juan (central), Arecibo, Caguas, Fajardo, Ponce and Mayagüez, and serves all of Puerto Rico including Vieques and Culebra. Services can be accessed on your own, or through public and private agencies, hospitals, the Police, Social Emergencies, the Family Department and the Education Department. The PITI Centers, for minors, are in the Fajardo and Mayagüez regions. No appointment or referral is required.

• Believing too much time has passed: the CAVV serves regardless of time elapsed since the assault.
• Thinking you need an appointment or someone’s referral: neither is required.
• Believing it is only for women or only for adults: the page says regardless of age or gender.
• Not calling because you are a relative rather than the person assaulted: family and support networks are served too.
• Bathing or washing the clothes and concluding it is no longer worth seeking medical help.
• Believing you must report to receive services: the Department says not reporting is your right too.
• Not asking for accompaniment, which is one of the direct services the CAVV offers.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico

  Salud

  www.salud.pr.gov