Reporting Sexual Offenses

If you are a victim of a sexual assault at UAA, your first priority should be to get to a place of safety. You should then obtain necessary medical treatment. The Dean of Students Office, Office of Campus Diversity & Compliance and the University Police Department strongly advocate that a victim of sexual assault report the incident in a timely manner. Time is a critical factor for evidence collection and preservation. An assault should be reported directly to a University Police officer and/or to the Dean of Students Office. Filing a police report with a University Police officer will not obligate the victim to prosecute, nor will it subject the victim to scrutiny or judgmental opinions from officers. Filing a police report will: 

• ensure that a victim of sexual assault receives the necessary medical treatment and tests, at no expense to the victim;
• provide the opportunity for collection of evidence helpful in prosecution, which cannot be obtained later (ideally a victim of sexual assault should not wash, douche, use the toilet, or change clothing prior to a medical/legal exam);
• assure the victim has access to free confidential counseling from counselors specifically trained in the area of sexual assault crisis intervention.

Sexual Assault Response Team
With your permission, a police officer will call together members of the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). The SART is made up of three members of the Anchorage community.

Law Enforcement: If the assault occurred on the Anchorage campus, the law enforcement member of the team would be the detective from the University Police Department. If the assault occurred off campus, either an Alaska State Trooper or Anchorage Police Department Officer would serve as the law enforcement representative. This member of the team takes the survivor's statement and does the investigation.

Nurse Examiner: This is a specially trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (sometimes referred to as a SANE) who serves as the medical component of the team. The nurse gathers the forensic evidence, asks necessary medical questions and attends to any medical needs that are present. The nurse examiner is from a local hospital.

STAR Advocate: The Advocate's role is solely to support the survivor. The Advocate can be present during both questioning and evidence collection. The survivor dictates to what degree the Advocate provides support, from asking the Advocate to leave to having the Advocate be present for the entire process.

The three members of SART come together at the same time. The survivor tells her or his story once, keeping further feelings of victimization to a minimum. In Anchorage, SART conducts medical examinations through Forensic Nursing Services of Providence Hospital.

Disposition of Sexual Assaults
UAA disciplinary proceedings, as well as special guidelines for cases involving sexual misconduct, are detailed in the Fact Finder Student Handbook. The Fact Finder provides information regarding the process used to conduct a sexual assault hearing. The Fact Finder also indicates that both the victim and accused will be informed of the outcome of the hearing. Both the victim and accused student are allowed to have a support person accompany them to the administrative review or judicial board hearing. A student found responsible for violating the University sexual misconduct policy could be criminally prosecuted in the state courts and may be suspended or expelled from the University for the first offense. Student victims have the option to change their academic and/or on-campus living situations after an alleged sexual assault, if such changes are reasonably available.