Interview with Laurie Cook Heffron, author of “Original Research: Giving Sexual Assault Survivors time to Decide: An Exploration of the Use and Effects of the Nonreport Option” (March, 2014)

It used to be that evidence of sexual assault was not collected during the initial health exam unless the assault survivor had already initiated a report to law enforcement agencies. However, recognizing the trauma surrounding an assault, some states do conduct a forensic exam, store the evidence and allow survivors up to two years to decide whether or not to report the crime. Lead author Laurie Heffron discusses with AJN editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy the findings of her mixed methods study of the impact of this nonreport option on health professionals, survivors and the criminal justice system.