‘First step in their healing’: South Minneapolis clinic will offer sex assault exams outside the ER

A clinic in south Minneapolis will soon offer forensic sexual assault exams, giving survivors another option for care besides the emergency room.

Southside Community Health Services, which previously operated out of an elementary school, recently opened its new location on East Lake Street. The community health center aims to support low-income and uninsured residents in a diverse corridor of the city. 

Following a sexual assault, forensic exams are done by specialized nurses to collect evidence for law enforcement, evaluate survivors for injury, and administer medication such as emergency contraception and STI prevention. The exams are tedious and long, usually lasting several hours. 

These exams are typically done in hospital emergency rooms. But Sheila Kennedy, Southside’s medical director who is leading the initiative, said ERs are not the best place to get care for many people. Instead, she wants to offer the exams at Southside and connect survivors with culturally-specific resources. She said she’s unaware of other health care settings in the state that offer the exams besides hospitals. 

“Rather than being retraumatizing, I want it to be the first step in their healing,” she said. 

ERs can be loud, chaotic and intimidating. They also can create barriers. People of color frequently experience discrimination and may not trust large medical systems. 

“We see that a lot of women don’t report [sexual assault] because of the lack of cultural care. This idea of just walking into an ER space is very daunting, and we believe that Southside will be a psychologically-safe container for survivors,” said Comfort Dondo, director of Phumulani, one of the culturally-responsive nonprofits that Southside is partnering with. Phumulani supports African immigrants who have experienced sexual assault or domestic violence. 

During the height of Operation Metro Surge earlier this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were present at major hospitals, including Hennepin County Medical Center. 

Vivian Huelgo, CEO of Esperanza United, which supports Latinos impacted by sexual violence, said many immigrants and people of color were fearful of encountering federal agents and did not get an exam or care at a hospital. 

“We had survivors who were literally living for days and weeks with the trash inside their homes, because they were afraid to just even take out the trash,” Huelgo said. “We had people calling our crisis line throughout, but not engaging with systems. So all of the tools that we usually have … many of those were just not reasonably safe for survivors during that time.”

While the presence of ICE agents has decreased in Minnesota, Huelgo said that fear and hesitancy still remains. Esperanza United is also partnering with Southside to support survivors, and Huelgo said she is hopeful that they will feel safer seeking care there. 

“It’s an additional place that they might still feel more comfortable than engaging in these larger entities that will feel like they are potentially still places of risk and fear,” she said.

For 15 years, Kennedy said she’s dreamed of offering this care in a more trauma-informed way.

She plans to add sound machines, artwork and dimmable lights to the exam room. The exam room is also located away from the front of the clinic in a quieter area. The room is embedded in the behavioral health wing of the clinic, to make those resources and care easily accessible. Kennedy also wants to improve follow-up care for patients, through check-ins and follow up appointments. 

After being assaulted, survivors often have to get tested for STIs regularly and take medication to prevent them. Many also need therapy and other follow-up care. When survivors have an exam at the ER, that follow-up care usually has to be done elsewhere. Kennedy said Southside will be able to provide that care, which will take the burden off of survivors of having to find somewhere to go.

“The person needs to focus on just taking care of themselves and taking a breath and healing, not, ‘What do I have to coordinate? What am I forgetting? What do I have to do next?’” she said.

Southside plans to begin offering the exams this summer. Exams will be available during clinic hours, and patients can make an appointment or walk in. Trained nurses from the Hennepin Assault Response Team will come to the clinic and administer the exams. They will also take evidence that is collected to Hennepin County Medical Center where they will be stored before being given to law enforcement if the survivor wishes to report the assault.

Advocates from organizations like the Sexual Violence Center will respond if the survivor wishes. Southside will refer patients to culturally-specific organizations like Phumulani, Esperanza United and the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center. 

Nicole Matthews, the executive director of the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition, said providing those connections is crucial.

“Native women want to have that connection or want to receive services from other Native women that understand that cultural background, and so having those connections with those service providers in the area, I think is going to be very critical,” she said.

Kennedy hopes that her model will inspire other clinics to offer similar care to support survivors. 

“I hope it’s successful, and I think it will be, and I hope it catches on,” she said. “This is too important of an issue … and something has to change.”

While grateful for Southside providing another option for survivors, Matthews said she would like survivors to be able to access care outside of hospitals 24/7. Those who are unable to come to Southside during clinic hours will have to go to the emergency room. 

“How are we also going to fill those gaps for people to get those services?” she said.

As more places offer the exams, nonprofit leaders say that it’s crucial that their groups have the funding to provide the work. Nonprofits that support people of color and women’s health have seen drastic funding cuts since the Trump administration took over last year. Kenosha Alexander, who leads the Sexual Violence Center, said many rape crisis centers across the state have closed over time. 

“The need is high for our work, however the support around this work is decreasing, especially in this current climate,” Alexander said. 

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