Help right now
You are not alone, and it was not your fault.
Free, confidential help is one call away, any hour, in English and Spanish. You decide everything that happens next, at your own pace.
National Sexual Assault Hotline, 24/7:
Call 800-656-4673
Text HOPE to 64673, or chat online at RAINN.org/hotline
By Dan Whelan, founder of New World Survival
Researched from government agencies, university extension services, and other published sources. See our sources
If you are in danger right now
Safety comes before everything on this page
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. If you can, get somewhere safer: a trusted friend's place, a public space with people in it, or a hospital. Everything else here can wait until you are safe.
The hotline
A trained person, any hour, no name required
Three ways to reach it
Call 800-656-4673, text HOPE to 64673, or chat online at RAINN.org/hotline. Trained support specialists provide confidential, 24/7 support in English and Spanish, and they will help with exactly as much or as little as you want: finding a clinic, thinking through options, or just being on the line.
What confidential means here
You never have to give your name, your location, or any identifying detail. Calls and chats are not recorded and chat transcripts are not stored. One honest caveat: if a caller shares their name and location and is under 18 or a vulnerable adult, the hotline may be legally required to notify authorities in their state. Staying anonymous keeps the conversation entirely yours.
For military families
The DoD Safe Helpline serves service members and their families: 877-995-5247, or chat at safehelpline.org.
Source: RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline, verified October 25, 2026
The first hours
Medical care is yours without any police report
The exam is free, and reporting is not a condition
A sexual assault forensic exam, sometimes called a rape kit, protects your health and preserves evidence, and you do not have to report to police to receive one. Federal law requires states to provide the exam at no cost; you should not be asked to pay. Any evidence collected is preserved in case you decide to report later, which means getting the exam keeps your options open without committing you to anything. The exam is done by specially trained providers, most often Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners. The hotline can tell you which nearby hospital or clinic has one.
Source: RAINN, Getting a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam
If you think you may want the exam
Go as soon as you can; in most cases DNA evidence is best collected within 72 hours. Until then, try to avoid showering or bathing, changing or removing the clothes you were wearing, using the restroom, or combing your hair. Clothing or items you have already taken off can go in a paper bag. Bring comfortable clothes to change into, and a trusted person if you want one.
Source: RAINN, Getting a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam
If any of that already happened, go anyway
Showering, changing, or waiting does not close the door. Other evidence may still be present after the 72-hour window, and the medical side of the visit matters on its own: a provider can check for injuries and infections and talk through your options, whenever and however the assault occurred.
Source: RAINN, Getting Medical Help After Sexual Assault
Reporting
Your choice, on your timeline
Whether to involve police is your decision, and no one on this page or at the hotline will push you either way. The forensic exam preserves evidence precisely so the decision can wait until you are ready. One practical note, stated without pressure: states set time limits for pressing charges, so if reporting is something you may want, the hotline can explain how the process works where you live and what to expect from it.
The Justice Department keeps a single page of national hotlines and a victim-services coalition for every state and territory, useful when you want local help beyond the hotline.
Source: RAINN; DOJ Office on Violence Against Women
If someone tells you
Four letters carry the whole job: TALK
If someone trusts you with this, your response in the first minute matters more than anything you say later. RAINN's framework is four moves.
Thank them for telling you
Speaking up takes courage, and saying so is the right first move: thank you for trusting me with this.
Ask how you can help
Do not assume; let them lead. What would be most helpful for you right now is the whole question.
Listen without judgment
Your role is to believe, not to investigate. No shock, no blame, no why questions. I am so sorry this happened, I am here for you, and it is not your fault cover nearly everything that needs saying.
Keep supporting
Recovery is not linear. Keep checking in over the months that follow, because the hard days are not all in the first week. If they want more help than you can give, the hotline serves the people supporting a survivor too.
Source: RAINN, Learn to TALK About It
Sources: RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline and resources, RAINN Getting a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam, RAINN Getting Medical Help After Sexual Assault, RAINN Learn to TALK About It, DOJ Office on Violence Against Women victim resources directory. All claims verified against primary sources. Last reviewed October 25, 2026.
This page is not medical or legal advice, and it is not therapy. It is a plain-language map of the help that exists, written so no one has to search for it on a hard day.