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Since 2020, Santa Clara County residents who have been sexually assaulted have been able to seek care at several locations in the north and south parts of the county, marking a major expansion in the availability of sexual assault forensic exams (SAFE).
But even as the use of forensic exams rises across the region, many residents may still not know these services are available – a problem that county officials are looking to fix. On Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on a plan for extensive outreach to raise awareness about the SAFE program, including its locations and services.
The plan calls for launching a user-friendly website with information about the SAFE program, and information kits to distribute directly to community members at a number of sites that include high schools, colleges and universities as well as clinics and community-based organizations.
“It’s obviously essential that folks across the community know that the services exist, that they know how to access them, that they know what to expect from the experience if they one day need to use them or simply refer someone to the services,” said Supervisor Joe Simitian, who proposed the outreach program in a referral at the Aug. 15 board meeting.
The number of SAFE exams has increased every year since 2015, peaking at nearly 800 in 2022. As of May 2023, a total of 396 SAFE exams have been performed this year, representing an 18% increase over the same time period in 2022, according to the board report.
The report also highlighted the expansion of SAFE services. In the past, the program offered an acute adult/adolescent sexual assault exam; a non-investigative report exam that allows survivors to report to law enforcement at a time of their choosing; and a non-evidentiary medical exam for survivors who want care and support but do not want to engage with the criminal justice system.
Now, the SAFE program will expand the non-fatal strangulation exam for survivors 12 years and older, and will offer medical evidentiary exams to assist law enforcement officials in collecting evidence from suspects.
At the meeting, county Supervisor Sylvia Arenas stressed the need to personalize the SAFE program to different community groups. “For South County, you would see a lot more Latinas impacted and under the age of 13,” she said.
“And so, this goes along with what Supervisor Lee was saying about extending some of our education efforts to younger crowds, as it is appropriate, to provide outreach so we can make sure that we are targeting those folks and populations in a culturally age-appropriate (way) and recognizing the trends that are happening as well,”
Arenas said she want the county’s outreach to target a wide range of people, including younger residents, and to tailor the messaging to resonate with people in culturally appropriate and age-appropriate ways. She added that there has been a notable absence of sexual assault reports from the county’s Asian communities.
“That … speaks volumes about what we need to do,” Arenas said.
