The first step for many victims of sexual assaults is simply talking about their experiences. Waiting for that call for help is exactly what the advocates of the Sexual Assault Response Team are trained to do.

Patricia Harvey, coordinator of SART, said when a call to the hotline is answered, many members of SART are contacted to respond to the call.

The first respondent is a law enforcement officer and an advocate from the Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support (ACCESS).

Specially trained medical staff from Planned Parenthood of Ames, ISU Student Health Center or Mary Greeley Medical Center also may be present if the survivor hasn’t met with a representative from one of those agencies yet.

“The concept [of SART] is to go out as a team and fulfill all of the survivors’ needs at the same time,” said Julie Wooden, sexual assault services coordinator at ACCESS.

As an advocate, Wooden said she works primarily with the survivor to fulfill any of her needs, wants or wishes.

“At ACCESS, we provide short-term counseling and help them find long-term counseling at the Student Counseling Center or the Richmond Center downtown,” she said.

There are eight advocates at ACCESS who are trained to deal with sexual assault cases. These advocates can be reached by calling the SART hotline at 296-6397 or by calling the 24-hour ACCESS direct line at 232-2303 or 1-800-203-3488.

“We allow the victim to be completely in control and to make her own decisions,” she said. “We are in support of her decisions.”

When Wooden meets with the survivor, she explains the medical process and what the rape examination entails. In addition, she lets the survivor know about her rights of reporting and speaking to a law enforcement officer.

“We let them make all of the choices, and we don’t pressure them to get an examination or to talk to an officer,” she said. “We try to get people to get medical examinations in case the survivor wants to take legal action [in the future].”

Wooden said the examination is done not only for evidence collection but also to test for pregnancy and STDs.

Members of SART offer complete confidentiality to the survivors, Wooden said.

“A lot of times when I meet with survivors, they tell me a lot of information they don’t tell the officers because they feel more comfortable with me,” she said. “I won’t tell the officers everything I know.”

Every survivor has a different reaction to the advocate and law enforcement official, Wooden said.

“The stereotypical notion is that the survivor is going to be hysterical, crying and very upset,” she said. “But a lot of times, people are in shock and denial about what happened to them. Often times when we meet with survivors, they are very calm, and they do talk to us.”

Wooden said the advocates are trying to put together a support group for sexual assault survivors.

“We provide support information and referrals [for survivors],” she said. “We are there to support the survivor — not to question them, not to judge them.”

Although sexual assaults can occur to anyone at anytime, Wooden said the first semester of the freshman year, called the “red zone,” is the most dangerous time for freshmen women.

The National Victim Center reports that 61.6 percent of rapes occur between the ages of 11 and 29, and a quarter of these occur between the ages of 18 and 24.

“When a person goes off to college, there are a lot of changes that occur,” she said. “People think these kind of things can’t happen to them, but it does happen in Ames, and it does happen at Iowa State University.”