Rape and sexual assault abroad

If you have been sexually assaulted whilst abroad you should tell the relevant Embassy as soon as possible. You'll find a link to our Find an embassy page to the right.

We take any report of rape or sexual assault seriously and will try to see you to offer you support as soon as possible and in private. We aim to be polite, patient, sensitive and non-judgmental.

In most cases of rape and sexual assault, the victims, no matter what their sex, prefer to talk about their ordeal with women. If that is what you want, we will do our best to make sure that a female consular officer is present at any meeting.

What we can do to help:

• tell you about local police and legal procedures
• accompany you to the police station and where possible we can ask that you are interviewed by a female officer if that is what you would prefer
• if you want us to, we can give you a list of local lawyers and interpreters
• help you to deal with the local authorities to arrange a medical examination by a female doctor, if possible and if that is what you would prefer
• depending on local conditions and laws, we can also arrange for you to see a doctor who can give advice on sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS, and on pregnancy or abortion
• if you want us to, contact your family or friends
• provide information on what professional help is available locally and in the UK, both for you and for your family.  We can consider asking for the services of a sexual offences trained officer from your local police station to advise and help you

Only you can decide whether or not to report a crime to the police or take legal action - we cannot make this decision for you. Please remember that if you choose not to report the crime immediately but change your mind later, forensic and other evidence may be lost. Also, in some countries, you must report the crime before returning to the UK if you want it to be investigated.

We have a leaflet 'Rape and sexual assault overseas' with more information