Sexual Assault Support Services Advocates
Sexual Assault Support Services Advocates are volunteer victim advocates who have received extensive training and work to enhance the victim-centered approach that is now standard for providing services to sexual assault victims. They provide accompaniment to hospitals in response to crisis calls received by the hotline, from local hospitals, police or the prosecutor’s office. Advocates provide crisis intervention, counseling, emotional support, information and referrals to sexual assault victims and their significant others. They may also be asked to support a survivor through follow-up with medical care and law enforcement proceedings.
Sexual Assault Support Advocates work with the Mercer County Prosecutor, law enforcement officers, forensic nurses and medical centers to form the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) to support sexual assault victims through the forensic or medical exam and investigation of a sexual assault. The Capital Health System at Mercer and Fuld in Trenton, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton and University Medical Center at Princeton are sites for sexual assault examinations in Mercer County. Special waiting areas for victims and their significant others, private exam rooms and medications that are free of charge are just some of the victim-centered services available. Sexual Assault Support Advocates are activated through the Womanspace hotline.
