Crisis Assistance Response and Education
(C.A.R.E) and Victim Assistance
Division of Student Affairs. Live. Learn. Grow.
C.A.R.E.
Office
67 George Street
2nd Floor, Rooms 202 and 203
Phone: (843) 953-3390
Fax: (843) 953-2273
Email: CareVictimAssistance@cofc.edu
Appointments
Call 953-3390
Walk-in 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Emergency Team Response
Pager: (843) 724-3600
Victim Responses
Immediate psychological consequences include:
- Shock
- Denial
- Fear
- Confusion
- Anxiety
- Withdrawal
- Guilt
- Nervousness
- Distrust of others
- Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Emotional detachment
- Sleep disturbances
- Flashbacks
- Mental replay of assault
Mental chronic psychological consequences include:
- Depression
- Attempted or completed suicide
- Alienation
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Unhealthy diet-related behaviors
- Fasting
- Vomiting
- Abusing diet pills
- Overeating
Social
- Strained relationships with the victim’s family, friends, and intimate partners
- Less emotional support from friends and family
- Less frequent contact with friends and relatives
- Lower likelihood of marriage (Clements at al. 2004; Golding, Wilsnack, and Cooper 2002)
Health Behaviors
Some researchers view the following health behaviors as both consequences of sexual violence and factors that increase a person’s vulnerability to being victimized again in the future (Brener et al. 1999; Lang et al. 2003).
Engaging in high-risk sexual behavior including:
- Unprotected sex
- Early sexual initiation
- Choosing unhealthy sexual partners
- Having multiple sex partners
- Trading sex for food, money, or other items
- Using or abusing harmful substances, including:
- Smoking cigarettes
- Drinking alcohol
- Driving after drinking alcohol
- Taking drugs (Champion et al. 2004; Jewkes, Sen, and Garcia-Moreno 2002; Raj, Silverman, and Amaro 2000)