{"id":11132,"date":"2025-12-08T11:25:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T11:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=11132"},"modified":"2025-12-08T11:25:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T11:25:23","slug":"72-hours-matter-what-not-to-do-after-rape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=11132","title":{"rendered":"72 Hours Matter: What NOT to Do After Rape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Siziba Thando<br>Health and environment reporter<br>www.zimgbcnews.co.zw<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the critical hours following rape, many survivors make choices out of fear, shame, or confusion that can harm their chances of recovery and justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Experts at Mpilo One Stop Centre are urging the public to understand what not to do after sexual assault, especially within the first 72 hours (3 days).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s what you should NOT do:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Do NOT wash your body.<br>Washing before medical examination can destroy important forensic evidence needed for prosecution. As difficult as it may be, avoid bathing until a doctor has examined you.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do NOT wash your clothes.<br>Keep the clothes you were wearing in a paper bag or clean container. These may carry evidence that supports your case.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do NOT stay silent or isolate yourself.<br>Trying to ignore what happened only delays healing. Talk to someone you trust and seek help immediately.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do NOT wait more than 72 hours to get medical help.<br>Post-exposure treatment for HIV and emergency contraception are most effective within this window. After that, the risk of infection and unwanted pregnancy increases, and forensic evidence may be lost.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Mpilo One Stop Centre, which supports survivors of gender-based violence, emphasizes the importance of early reporting and community support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs a society, we should encourage people to speak out and support those who are victims. Reporting early can save a life,&#8221; said a representative from the centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowing what not to do can be just as important as knowing what to do. Let\u2019s educate, support, and protect survivors by spreading this life-saving information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow Zim GBC News for More Updates:<br>\ud83c\udf10 Website: www.zimgbcnews.co.zw<br>\ud83d\udc26 X (Twitter): @ZimGbc<br>\ud83d\udcd8 Facebook: Zim GBC News<br>\u25b6\ufe0f YouTube: Zim GBC News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Siziba ThandoHealth and environment reporterwww.zimgbcnews.co.zw In the critical hours following rape, many survivors make choices out of fear, shame, or confusion that can harm their chances of recovery and justice.&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-and-gender-affairs","category-environment-and-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11132"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11134,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11132\/revisions\/11134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}