VIDEO: Sexual Assault Doesn’t Discriminate Against Age, Sex, or Race

OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The Terry Hill case alarmed a number of people.

Sexual assault doesn’t discriminate against age, sex, or race.

Statistics show it can happen to anyone, anywhere.

Nurses and counselors say more people are willing to come forward and talk about being a victim.

There are also better methods available to treat people.

It’s that awareness that’s leading to more convictions.

Roughly 80 to 150 sexual assault victims walk through the doors of OCH Regional Medical Center every year.

Clinical Nurse Manager for Critical Care at OCH Regional Medical Center, Eddie Coats says more of those people are college age.

“They’re away from home for the first time. They’re taking chances and doing things that would not necessarily be available to them at home and that gets them into trouble because there’s a lot of predators out there looking for people making those first time mistakes, looking for that weakness, and then taking advantage of it.”

The hospital has dozens of nurses, but only eight who are certified as sexual assault nurse examiners.

SANE nurses are trained to examine sexual assault victims in the emergency room.

“They’re trained for the different methods on evidence collection. They’re trained on how to present this evidence both written form and then if they get called into court, they’re trained on how to testify to the fact that hopefully will lead to the prosecution of someone,” says Coats.

That’s why details are critical when it comes to an examination.

Everything from the victim’s clothing, to their fingernails, are looked over for evidence to help law enforcement find the rapist.

“We take oral swabs. We take a number of other swabs, pictures, and then obviously, we get the story. We want the story as detailed as possible so that it can be documented and presented in court and the earlier, the better,” says Coats.

Coats says treatment doesn’t end once the victim leaves they hospital. He believes they should go to counseling.

Counselor Wendie Woods says talking with someone can prevent other issues from emerging.

“You need more, a more specialized version of counseling and you need a little bit higher level of support that is also different than just hand holding or talking things through, especially because of the physical nature of sexual assault.”

The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office encourages hospitals to have SANE nurses available, but it’s not a requirement.

Mississippi State University has student counseling services available 24-hours a day.