Challenges

Risk Management Issues

Sexual assault crisis centers may be required to file incident reports or to complete insurance forms that could contain confidential information about a victim. These forms may need to be filed with individuals who are not required to keep such information confidential. An advocate should discuss this with a victim who is injured or is a witness to another's injury. If the victim decides to give informed consent to include the required personally identifiable information on the forms, the advocate should request the release in writing. If the victim does not give informed consent, the advocate can file the form but must note that certain confidential information cannot be included at that point in time.