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Legal Services

For immediate rape crisis assistance please contact the statewide information line at 1-888-956-RAPE.

Who we serve?

• Adults and children age 11 and older

• People of all sexual orientations and gender identities, including LGBTQ, women, men and non-binary people

• Immigrants, refugees, and undocumented victims regardless of legal status

Below is a list of some of the areas we can assist with, and some examples to better explain ways we may be able to help:

Forensic Exam

• After a rape, you have the right to have a forensic exam, or “rape kit”, at no cost to you.

• If a hospital or doctor sends you a bill for this exam, we can help you in trying to have that debt erased.

Education

• We help students in elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as colleges, universities, and vocational programs.

• If someone hurt you and you need help at school, we may be able to help you:

  • Keep your information private,

  • Take time off from school, get help if your grades are slipping, or transfer schools, or

  • Report it to the school we can guide you through the process, known as a Title IX investigation. 

Housing

• After the assault you may not feel safe where you live.  FCASV may be able to help you:

  • Move or change your locks, or

  • Stay in your home if your landlord is trying to evict you.

Employment

• When someone at work hurts you, you might feel like you don’t want to go to work anymore or that your employer isn’t supporting you.  You deserve to feel safe at work.  You have options:

  • You can ask to work a different shift from the person who hurt you.

  • You can ask for time off or a transfer.

  • You may be able to get unemployment benefits.

  • If your employer won’t agree to help you, or fires you for asking for help, might be able to file a complaint against them.

Victim Compensation

• If you have bills after being the victim of a crime, and told police about the crime, the Crime Victim Compensation (CVC) Program with the State of Florida might be able to give you money for these bills. 

• CVC program pays for things such as income you lost from work, doctor bills, moving costs, and other costs. 

• We can help go through your options and help you with getting money from the CVC to cover your needs.

Immigration

• If you aren’t a U.S. citizen, or don’t have your green card, and you have been the victim of sexual violence, we can help you apply for immigration status.

Parental Rights

• If you got pregnant after a rape, and you do not want the abuser to be able to see your child, we might be able to help you. 

Victims’ Rights During the Criminal Case

• Crime victims have rights.  If police and the prosecutor have decided to move forward with pressing criminal charges, as a victim of crime, you have rights too. Some examples include the right to:

  • have your information kept private and confidential

  • be told if the perpetrator is released from jail or prison 

  • talk to the prosecutor about how you feel about the charges and perpetrator’s plea or sentence

  • seek money to help with your recovery and expenses from the assault (known as “restitution”)

  • have a trained, sexual assault advocate with you, or go to court for you

  • tell the court about how the crime has affected you

  • get time off from work or school

  • and more. 

• You have rights and we are here to help you understand them.

Injunctions (Restraining Orders)

• Injunctions can help keep you safe by getting a Court to order that the person who hurt you not come near you or communicate with you.

• The Court may sometimes order other things at the hearing, for example:

  • money from the perpetrator to help you be able to continue to pay rent 

  • orders about child custody and visitation

• If you file an injunction on your own, you will not be given a court appointed attorney (like a public defender).

• We can help you prepare and file the paperwork for an Injunction. We may also be able to represent you at the injunction hearing.

Your privacy and safety are very important.  Being the victim of a sexual assault impacts your privacy and safety in all of these areas of legal needs.  We will work with you to make sure your privacy is best protected and safety is of utmost priority.

When you speak with our attorneys and victim advocate, your information will be confidential and will not be shared without your permission.

If the issue you need help with is not listed here, we may still be able to help you or refer you to someone who can, so do not hesitate to call us.* 

*IMPORTANT: FCASV does not represent survivors in family law cases involving divorce or child custody, criminal defense, or civil tort litigation. We are not criminal prosecutors and cannot press criminal charges or force law enforcement and/or prosecutors to do so. However, we may be able to assist in explaining the criminal process and seek clarification, if necessary, if you are concerned about how your criminal case is moving forward. Finally, we are not civil tort litigation attorneys, which means that we are not able to sue individuals or corporations. However, we may be able to refer you to law firms that specialize in sexual assault tort litigation.

We would be pleased to communicate with you by e-mail, and there are various places on this Website that provide you the ability to send an electronic communication to FCASV. Any such email or other electronic communication, however, does not create a client relationship, patient relationship or any other formalized contractual relationship. As set forth more fully in our Privacy Policy, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that any communications remain confidential, but we cannot guarantee the security of such communications and cannot guarantee that we would not be required to disclose such communications as a result of a court order.

Our business hours are Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm.

For immediate rape crisis assistance please contact the statewide information line at 1-888-956-RAPE.

If you require legal assistance, kindly complete the intake form provided below and send a copy via email to our legal team. A representative from our legal team will reach out to you within two business days.