Olivia Christians is a member of the GenerationJOY committee at the Joyful Heart Foundation. She had the opportunity to tour the Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE) Clinic at the Nashville Sexual Assault Center and meet with its president, Rachel Freeman, and Vice President of Programs, Mary Beth Heaney-Garate. Olivia, who grew up in Nashville and was introduced to the clinic by her family friend and SAC board member Lisa Campbell, learned about the clinic’s role in helping survivors of sexual assault in Tennessee and the important decisions the center made to ensure the clinic was survivor-centric and trauma-informed. Olivia shared her story about her visit.

The moment you step into the Nashville Sexual Assault Center’s Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE) Clinic, you know it was created with survivors in mind. The colors throughout the space are soothing. The lights are soft. The ceilings feature calming murals. The walls are thick, creating a quiet and calm atmosphere. There isn’t any chaos.

The SAFE Clinic, open 24/7, is the first place first responders bring survivors throughout Middle Tennessee after a sexual assault. The SAFE Clinic partners with Nashville General Hospital, which sends trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) directly to the clinic to conduct the forensic medical exams that allow for DNA evidence collection—also known as a “rape kit”—after a sexual assault. As long as a survivor does not need additional medical treatment, they can choose to undergo a forensic examination at the SAFE Clinic, rather than at a hospital.

The clinic opened in August 2018 and it is one of only a handful of similar clinics in the United States. The trauma-informed clinic provides care to survivors of sexual assault in a nurturing environment to help them begin their path toward healing, all in a setting that was intentionally designed with their interests at the forefront. For example, every survivor has a trained advocate from the Sexual Assault Center (SAC) by their side during every step of their recovery process.

“At SAC, we have designed a place especially for survivors where they will feel safe and cared for, with the hope that this will encourage more victims to come forward,” said Rachel Freeman, president of the SAC. “When you step inside this space, you notice that everything was done with intention—from the spa-like restroom to the light coverings in the exam rooms. This space is intended to be the first step toward healing for those who experience the trauma of rape.”

Before creating the SAFE Clinic, the SAC was primarily focused on therapy and counseling services, and then layered on advocacy and education services. The center brought in a team of architects in the spring of 2017 to evaluate their workspace to see how it could be utilized to establish a SAFE Clinic. Freeman and her team at the SAC worked closely with the Nashville General Hospital and other various community partners, including the Nashville Police Department, the Nashville Mayor’s Office, and the District Attorney’s Office, to iron out the logistics and get a plan off the ground.

“Now, when someone is raped in Davidson County, they can choose to come to the SAFE Clinic—a calm, nurturing space that exclusively treats sexual assault survivors,” Freeman said. “SAC advocates and the nurse practitioners from NGH will ensure the best possible care immediately following a sexual assault.”

Advocates at the clinic will support and work with each survivor through the exam process, help them with filing a police report, help locate and secure housing, if needed, assist in navigating the criminal justice system, and accompany the survivor to court proceedings.

If the survivor wishes, they can also return to the Nashville SAC for counseling. A completely separate entrance to the SAFE Clinic was created to ensure that if a survivor chooses to come back for counseling, they feel safe entering the facility and are not triggered by returning to the location they first went to after the assault. The clinic also has a gated entrance, extra lighting in the parking lot, video surveillance, and increased security measures throughout the campus. The site is designed to make survivors feel safe, protected, and at ease.

It is my hope that other cities and jurisdictions will follow in Nashville’s footsteps so all survivors will be met with the same expertise and compassion modeled at the SAFE Clinic.