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Additional Guidance
If You Are Experiencing an Emergency, Dial 9-1-1
Reporting
Contact your local VA medical center and ask to speak to your local VA Police Officer or Patient Advocate.
Patient Advocates are the VHA points-of-contact (POC) when a Veteran, caregiver, volunteer, or visitor reports an incident of harassment, sexual harassment or sexual assault.
- The Patient Advocate:
- ensures VA Police are notified of the incident
- documents the experiencer’s* report in VA’s internal tracking system
- follows the complaint-resolution process
- contacts VA medical or mental health services as needed
- provides a list of VA and community resources as requested by the experiencer*
Bystander Intervention
- Techniques
Recognize and respond safely to a situation that is potentially hostile or to a behavior that may be harassing so that the situation does not get worse. - Training
Learn how to respond when you notice behaviors that could lead to, or are, harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of aggression.
Important Terms
- Experiencer*—The individual who has been assaulted or harassed.
- Harassment—Harassment is any unwelcome conduct that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment.
- Sexual Assault—Sexual assault is any type of unwelcome touch that is without the explicit consent of the recipient of the unwanted sexual activity.
- Sexual Harassment—Sexual harassment is unsolicited verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature which is threatening in character.
