Rationale:

• The patient has undergone an experience in which her right to grant or deny consent was taken from her, and obtaining consent for medical treatment and for the gathering of evidence has important psychological and legal implications.
• In some jurisdictions, the law mandates that patients be informed of their right to have a family member, friend, or patient advocate in the room during all parts of the examination.

Evidence:

• California Penal Code requires examiners to offer that an advocate or companion may remain with a patient during examination (20).
• In a representative sample survey of Chicago area therapists, most believed that some professionals engage in harmful behaviors (i.e., implying a patient was “asking for it”) that are detrimental to rape survivors' psychological well-being (21).
• One study used posted flyer recruitment to study 102 Chicago area female survivors of nonstranger rape. Those who received minimal assistance from either the legal or medical system and encountered victim-blaming behaviors from system personnel reported significantly elevated levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (22).

Comments:

• None.