I Was Just Sexually Assaulted at a Place of Business. What Do I Do?
If you were just sexually assaulted at a business, spa, or workplace, or in a ride share, please know this first: what happened to you is not your fault, and you do not have to navigate this alone.
The steps below can help protect your physical health, preserve vital evidence, and safeguard your legal rights against both the perpetrator and the business that allowed it to happen. There is no single "right" order for these steps. Every situation is different, so use your best judgment based on your immediate safety and needs. Always prioritize your physical safety and urgent medical care above all else.
1. Get to a Safe Place Immediately
Your immediate safety is the absolute top priority. Leave the area, building, or premises right away if you can.
Reporting to management: If you feel safe doing so, you can notify on-site management or security staff.
When NOT to report to management: In many situations, telling management on-site is neither safe nor practical. If there is inadequate supervision, an active threat, hostile staff, or if management itself is involved in or enabling the assault, focus entirely on getting yourself to a secure location away from the business.
2. Get Medical Care Right Away
Your physical health, safety, and well-being come first. Even if you do not think you are visibly or severely injured, emergency medical care may be necessary to treat internal injuries, provide emergency contraception, and administer preventative treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Go to the nearest emergency room immediately or call 911.
3. Tell Someone You Trust
As soon as you are in a safe place, contact a trusted friend, family member, or advocate. Ask them to come stay with you or meet you at the hospital.
Having someone you trust support you in the first minutes and hours following an assault provides crucial emotional grounding. From a legal standpoint, making a immediate, real-time disclosure to a trusted confidant creates early corroborating evidence that helps establish what happened to you.
4. Seek a Forensic Medical Exam (Rape Kit)
If the assault involved penetration of any kind—including digital, object, or oral penetration—it is crucial to get a forensic medical exam (commonly called a rape kit) as soon as you safely can.
Where to go: Go to a hospital emergency room or a dedicated crisis center. Medical professionals trained as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) will collect DNA, physical evidence, and document injuries.
Alternative options: If you cannot get to a hospital right away, request a forensic exam through local law enforcement, healthcare providers, or a local sexual assault crisis center.
⚠️ Red Flag — Avoid Self-Help "At-Home" Rape Kits: Do not use DIY or direct-to-consumer rape kits sold online. Their chain of custody, legal admissibility, and forensic effectiveness are heavily disputed in court, and defense attorneys frequently use them to undermine a victim's case. Trust only qualified medical and forensic professionals.
5. Contact Law Enforcement to Make a Report
Report the assault to the police as soon as possible so an official record is established and an investigation can begin.
⚠️ Navigating Challenges with Police: It is important to know that some police officers or departments may react with skepticism, dismissiveness, or delay. Systemic failures and historical biases mean that certain communities—including women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and minority groups—have historically faced significant barriers to being heard or believed by law enforcement.
Stand firm: Insist on filing an official incident report and getting a report or card number. You deserve to be taken seriously.
If police do not listen: If officers refuse to take a report or treat you with disrespect, do not give up. Reach out immediately to a local crisis hotline or an experienced attorney who can advocate on your behalf with law enforcement.
6. Preserve All Physical Evidence
Physical evidence is fragile and can easily be destroyed by everyday actions.
Do not shower, wash, or change: Try to avoid showering, bathing, washing your hands, brushing your teeth, or changing clothes before your forensic exam.
Save your clothing: If you must change clothes, place the unwashed clothing and underwear you were wearing into a clean, paper bag (plastic bags trap moisture and destroy DNA evidence). Seal the bag and do not let anyone touch it.
Photograph injuries: Take clear, well-lit photos of any bruises, scratches, red marks, torn clothing, or physical trauma. Store these photos in a secure, private location (such as a password-protected cloud account).
7. Write Down Your Impressions While Fresh
In the hours following the incident, capture as many specific details as you can remember in a private journal or digital note:
Perpetrator details: Name, job title, uniform, clothing, approximate height, weight, hair, tattoos, or defining physical features.
Specific physical details: Any unique physical characteristics that confirm intimate contact took place (such as specific bodily markings or genital features).
Timeline and location: Exact time, specific room or area in the business, and names or descriptions of any witnesses, employees, or bystanders.
8. Report the Assault to Corporate (With Caution)
Companies must be put on notice that an assault occurred on their watch. However, how you report it matters:
Notify them in writing: Contact corporate management or their legal/HR department to formally state that an assault took place on their premises by their employee or on their property. State basic facts: date, time, location, and the nature of the incident.
⚠️ Do NOT speak to corporate investigators alone: Company risk managers, HR representatives, and internal investigators work for the business—not for you. Their primary goal is often to limit the company's legal liability, cover up corporate negligence, or twist your statements against you. Report the incident, but do not submit to an interview or sign any documents without an independent attorney present.
9. Connect with Crisis Resources and Hotlines
You do not have to process the trauma of an assault by yourself. Free, confidential, 24/7 support is available right now:
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network): Call 1-800-656-4673 or chat online at rainn.org.
Emergency Services: Call or text 911.
National Domestic Violence Hotline: Call 1-800-799-7233 or text "START" to 88788.
10. Contact a Qualified Injury Lawyer
While criminal prosecutors focus on punishing the individual perpetrator, a civil attorney works directly for you.
When a sexual assault happens at a business, hotel, clinic, spa, or workplace, the business itself may be legally responsible under doctrines of vicarious liability and corporate negligence. An experienced attorney helps by:
Forcing the business to preserve crucial security footage, access logs, and employee files before they "disappear."
Investigating whether the business failed to conduct background checks, ignored prior complaints, or hired a dangerous employee.
Shielding you from hostile corporate insurance adjusters and aggressive defense lawyers.
Fighting to hold both the perpetrator and the corporate entity financially accountable for medical bills, trauma, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
You Deserve Justice and Accountability
If you or a loved one was sexually assaulted by an employee or on the premises of a business, Maucere Law Group is here to stand up for you. We hold corporations, employers, and service providers accountable when they fail to protect the people who walk through their doors.
📞 Call us directly:423-855-1755
🌐 Confidential Online Contact:allamericanjustice.com/contact
Reach out today for a confidential, sensitive consultation to learn about your options and protect your rights.
Not legal advice. For educational purposes only.