What To Do If You Have Been Sexually Abused

Understanding Your Rights, Your Options, and Your Time Limits to File

Experiencing sexual abuse is traumatic, confusing, and overwhelming. Many survivors don’t know where to turn, what steps to take, or how long they have to act.

Below is step-by-step guide to help you understand your options & protect your rights:

1. Ensure Your Immediate Safety

If you are in danger, or the abuser still has access to you, take steps to get to a safe location or contact someone you trust.

Safety always comes first.

2. Seek Medical Care (If You Choose To)

Medical attention can help with:

Injuries
Preventing infections
Collecting confidential evidence (if you want it preserved for later)

You are not required to report to law enforcement to receive medical care or an exam.

3. Document What You Can

If you feel able, write down:

What happened
When and where
Any witnesses
Messages, emails, photos, or evidence
Names of teachers, staff, supervisors, or other adults involved

You don’t need to have everything perfect, a civil attorney will help organize your evidence later.

4. Report the Abuse (Optional, but Sometimes Helpful)

You can choose to report to:

Police
School officials
DHS/CPS
Facility administrators
HR (if in a workplace)

But you do NOT need a police report to file a civil case.
Many survivors come forward only on the civil side, especially when the criminal system ignores them.

5. Contact a Civil Rights or Sexual Abuse Attorney

This is one of the most important steps.

A civil lawyer helps survivors by:

Protecting your privacy
Investigating the abuser and the institution
Filing your claim
Making the process easier, safer, and trauma-informed
Helping you understand your rights
Pursuing compensation and accountability

An attorney can move forward even if:

The police did nothing.
The DA dropped charges.
The abuser got a plea deal.
The system failed you.

Civil justice gives survivors control.

How Long Do You Have to File a Civil Case?

Oklahoma Laws (general guidance):

Time limits vary based on age and circumstances, but here’s the general framework survivors need to know:

✔️ Adults Who Were Sexually Assaulted

Typically:
2 years from the date of the assault to file a civil claim.
(Some exceptions may extend this.)

✔️ Survivors Abused as Children

Oklahoma gives survivors who were abused as minors:
12 years after turning 18 (until age 30) to file a civil lawsuit.

BUT there are important exceptions:

If the abuse was covered up.
If a school, church, foster agency, or institution failed to protect.
If the survivor discovered the harm later.
If new evidence emerges.

Under these conditions, survivors may have additional time beyond age 30.

✔️ Civil Rights Violations (§1983 Claims)

If the abuser was:

A police officer
Jail staff
Public school employee
Foster parent acting under state authority
Government worker

You generally have 2 years to file.
However, these cases are extremely fact-specific and delays can destroy evidence, so survivors should contact an attorney as soon as possible.

✔️ Institutional Negligence Cases

(Against schools, DHS, churches, youth programs, medical facilities, treatment centers, etc.)

These cases may allow additional time if:

The institution hid evidence
Officials ignored warnings
Supervisors failed to act

6. You Don’t Need to Decide Everything at Once

Many survivors feel overwhelmed and unsure. You do NOT need to have:

Full memories
A police report
A “perfect story”
Physical evidence

Civil attorneys work with survivors exactly where they are.

Healing is not linear.
Reporting is not linear.
Justice is not linear.

You deserve support no matter how long it has been.

7. Trauma Is Real and None of This Is Your Fault

Survivors often carry shame or self-blame. Abuse is never the survivor’s fault.
Not reporting immediately does not make your case invalid.
Not remembering every detail does not make you less credible.
Your story matters and you deserve justice.

8. A Civil Case Can Give You:

Financial compensation for therapy, medical care, trauma, lost wages, or long-term harm
Accountability from the abuser
Responsibility from institutions that failed to protect you
Answers about who knew and what should have been done
Policy changes that protect future victims

Civil justice is often the only path survivors have when the criminal system fails.