Victims of rape or sexual assault in the Dominican Republic

We take any report of rape or sexual assault seriously and will seeyou to offer you support as soon as possible and in private. We aim tobe polite, patient, sensitive and non-judgemental. In most cases ofrape and sexual assault, the victims, no matter what their sex, preferto talk about their ordeal with women. If that is what you want, wewill do our best to make sure that a female officer is at any meeting.

We can tell you about local police and legal procedures. If youwant to contact the police, we can come to the police station with you.Where possible we can try to make sure that you are interviewed by afemale police officer if that’s what you would prefer. If you want usto, we can give you a list of local lawyers and interpreters. However,only you can decide whether or not to take legal action - we cannotmake this decision for you. Remember that if you choose not to reportthe crime immediately but change your mind later, forensic and otherevidence may be lost. In the Dominican Republic, you must report the crime beforereturning to the UK if you want it to be investigated.

We can help you to deal with the local authorities to arrange amedical examination, where possible with a female doctor if that iswhat you would prefer. Depending on local conditions and laws across the Dominican Republic, we can also arrange for you to see a doctor who can give adviceon sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS, and onpregnancy or abortion.

If you want us to, we can contact your next of kin or other family and friends.

If you want, we can give you information on what professional helpis available locally and in the UK, both for you and for your family.We can also consult our London-based police adviser, who can considerusing the services of a sexual offences trained officer from your localpolice station to advise and help you.

For more information, please see our leaflet called `Rape and Sexual Assault` on our travel website under ‘Our publications’, which you may find useful.