If you have recently been raped or sexually assaulted, it’s understandable if you don’t know what to do or where to turn.

SARCS is a dedicated NHS service which can offer healthcare and support in the days after an assault, if you are not ready to tell the police or are unsure.

What options are available to me?

Police report

If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can report it to the police at any time, in an emergency situation call 999, non-emergencies call 101, or visit the Police Scotland website http://www.scotland.police.uk.

Self-referral to a SARCS

If you have been raped or sexually assaulted within the last 7 days and do not want to tell the police or are unsure about telling them now – you can self-refer to a SARCS. This means you don’t need a GP or other healthcare professional to refer you to a SARCS – you can do this yourself.

The service may be able to arrange for you to have a forensic medical examination (FME) at SARCS without making a report to the police.

You can phone a dedicated NHS telephone number 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and speak to a specially trained healthcare professional who can help to arrange the care you might need.  

You can find more information about how to self-refer to a SARCS and the telephone number to call, on the NHS inform website www.nhsinform.scot/sarcs.