Click this link for more information about National Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month; this year’s theme to mark the occasion is Safe Online Spaces Together. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

On Thursday, Freeman Health System’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners spoke about sexual assault and the special care and training the hospital offers. According to the latest data available from the Missouri State Highway Patrol in 2018, the rate of rapes in Missouri is nearly 47 for every 100,000 residents.

Karen Scott, an emergency room nurse at Freeman and sexual assault nurse examiner on Thursday explained the services Freeman emergency room provides, “we provide nursing care to adult patients who have been sexually assaulted. We provide emergency contraception if that’s a concern. We provide anti-biotics just in case of sexually transmitted infections.”

Scott added that the examinations, services, and medications that Freeman provides assault victims are provided at no cost. The specially trained nurses also contact law enforcement and collect evidence if the victims request that they do so. To learn more about National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, visit MSVRC.ORG.