Women’s Clinic

Location
Dwight Way Women’s Shelter
2140 Dwight Way between Shattuck Avenue and Fulton Street
Berkeley, CA 94704-2015
Mondays, 7:30 – 9:30 PM

Background
The idea for the Women’s Clinic began in fall of 1996. During that time, there was steady discussion of specifically reaching out to women and children, who normally comprised a minority at the regular Tuesday night General Clinic. The reason for this most likely stems from the fact that the General Clinic is open during the evening, and is therefore unsafe or inconvenient for that particular population to utilize.

In an effort to address these concerns, a expansion of the General Clinic was put into place on Monday afternoons at the Berkeley Free Clinic drop-in center. After a semester-long trial run, it was found that the new ‘Expansion Clinic’ was not accomplishing its original goals. Following a six month hiatus of re-planning, the new drop-in center was re-opened at the Dwight Way Women’s Shelter in the spring of 1998.

Intake
The only parking is on the streets. To enter, go down the walkway on the west side of the building and ring the bell to the door on the left. Shelter staff will let you in. The Women’s Clinic mainly serves the group of women who seek assistance at the Dwight Way Women’s Shelter, caring for roughly thirty clients per night on average. Nevertheless, all services are available to nonresidents, provided on a first-come, first-served basis with a priority to clients who have not previously received services.

Services Offered

  • Medical services (biweekly);
  • A homoeopathist comes to offer homeopathy, a system for treating disease based on the administration of minute doses of a drug that in massive amounts produces symptoms in healthy individuals similar to those of the disease itself;
  • Optometry (appointment referrals) provides a preliminary eye examination for clients at the clinic site given by graduate students in the UCB School of Optometry. Clients needing glasses as diagnosed and then scheduled for a full eye examination at the Meredith W. Morgan University Eye Center on the UC Berkeley campus. If glasses are necessary, they are issued to the client at no cost. The lenses are subsidized by the Suitcase Clinic while the eyeglass frames are all donated from various people and places;
  • Chiropractic (biweekly) services provide adjustments given by volunteer professional chiropractors from the community. They mostly treat clients who suffer from minor back pain. Treatment consists of a chiropractic adjustment (directed and controlled pressure of individual spinal bones to their specific positions). Other additional treatments include ice, heat, nutritional advice, and exercise;
  • Legal services;
  • A masseuse or UC Berkeley volunteers and students from Health and Medical Sciences 98/198 provide massage to relax muscle tension;
  • Manicure, pedicure and nail painting;
  • Foot Care has volunteer students provide gentle podiatric care, hand out nail clippers, emery boards and anti-fungal to our clients, who often walk for hours and have limited access to showers;
  • Health education and hygiene supplies;
  • Children’s activities and services;
  • Continuity of Care Advocates (CoCA).

Rape Protocol
As the Women’s Clinic is located in a women’s shelter, our caseworkers will most likely not have to react to a situation in which the perpetrator and survivor are in the same living space. As a result, our policy towards survivors of rape is to empower and refer.

The BAWAR Yellow Pages referral booklet will be available at the Health Education table/box at all times, and this will be the first place that a caseworker will turn to when helping a survivor of rape. Also, since many of our clients have survived rape or sexual assault in some form, new caseworkers will be given the same guidelines and ideas about how to best casework with a survivor, both in written form and through a small group training in class.

The following information is meant to give a caseworker the best possible tools to help a survivor. Most information is a summary of a BAWAR training hosted by the Suitcase Clinic. If you have further questions about rape counseling, call BAWAR at (510) 845-7273.

Some important things to start with:

Refer:
All our volunteers’ hearts are in the right place when caseworking with a survivor, however, we are not given enough specific rape counseling training and don’t know the details that make big differences. So, all survivors, whether requesting help from us or not, should be given BAWAR’s 24-hour hotline number which is: (510) 845-7273

A survivor of rape has just had a very disempowering experience. Giving the survivor options and asking permission at every step of the process is a great way to put the survivor in an empowering position.

A Caseworking Model
A client confides in you that she/he is a rape survivor. A good response would provide options, such as: “I can help. Do you want my help?”

I. If No: give BAWAR number: (510) 845-7273. Let them know you are available if they change their mind.

II. If Yes:

  1. Ask if they are comfortable talking to you, or if they would like you to find the person they would be most comfortable talking to;
  2. Take the person to a quiet, private place;
  3. Place an emphasis on confidentiality;
  4. Active listening. Really focus on what they are saying and try to address their concerns.
  5. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” if you don’t. Wrong information can’t help anyone and the referrals are easy, you can even offer to call BAWAR for them to find an answer if you like.

So, you and the client are in safe space and you have assured them that you will not tell anyone anything you discuss without their permission. The next step is to be a supportive and at least a limited source of information. Here are some tips on what they can expect, things they should know and good counseling approaches.

Options:
Each person has a different reaction to rape. Depending on this reaction, they may decide to report the rape, or not report the rape. To ensure the best physical health of the survivor, these are the rough steps that could be taken:

Undergo the full Forensic Test:
The Forensic Test is carried out by doctors at a hospital. In our case, we would refer the survivor to Highland Hospital. The rape crisis trained doctors will conduct a full exam including STD screen, they can prevent pregnancy and will collect evidence that may identify the rapist. The survivor can claim Victims of Violent Crimes Compensation, and this full examination will be free of charge.

Things to be aware of: The forensic test is most useful within the first 72 hours, as this is the amount of time that possible evidence remains detectable. Also, doctors are mandatory reporters, meaning that if someone requests treatment as a result of rape, the doctors must call the police and legal steps will be taken.

Choose Confidential Testing Instead:
It is common for survivors to not want to involve the police in their recovery process, yet their health is still important! Suggest confidential testing at a clinic in order to screen for STDs and address any pregnancy concerns. Planned Parenthood and the Berkeley Free Clinic both provide STD screenings and Planned Parenthood, Walgreens and Elephant Pharmacy all carry the morning after pill without prescriptions. The survivor can just say they had (rough) unprotected sex if asked for the reason for their visit.

Counseling Tips for the Beginner:

  • Refer;
  • Use listening skills: active listening, ask open ended questions, find concerns and respond to them;
  • Validate the survivor’s emotions (what they’re feeling is okay). Example: Survivor: “I feel so angry at him, I wish I could just scream.” Caseworker’s response: “It’s okay to feel angry. It’s okay to scream.”
  • Keep focused on the present, focus on strengths that helped in past situations that may help now;
  • Stay away from negative words/language like but, would, should, could, never;
  • Always offer options, but don’t pressure the survivor to make decisions. Educate but do not put good or bad values onto options;
  • Ask permission. For example, as tempting as it may be to use physical contact as comfort, never touch the client without their permission. Their boundaries have been violated as a result of rape, they need control of their space;
  • Dispel myths, i.e., it’s not the survivor’s fault, not the clothes they wore, not the place they walked. We all have the right to express who we are. Please read more on the myth’s page of BAWAR training material;
  • This is in no way a complete list, but just a few ideas.

But really, the best thing you can do for a survivor is tell them about Bay Area Women Against Rape (BAWAR). All their services are free of charge and include but are not limited to the following:

  • 24-hour hotline for sexual assault survivors, family and friends;
  • 24-hour on-call service to all hospitals and police departments to assist in supporting survivors through the medical and legal process;
  • Court accompaniment;
  • Short term in-person counseling for sexual assault survivors and their significant others;
  • Therapy referrals;
  • Support groups for rape and incest survivors;
  • Self defense workshops and referrals;
  • Therapy referrals/resources for ritual abuse survivors.

Record Keeping
The Women’s Clinic will keep a log book, maintained by the Clinic Coordinators, for every drop-in center date. Included in this book will be:

  1. Any action/uncomfortable situations that were reported that night;
  2. A general summary of how everything went;
  3. A record any “noteworthy information;”
  4. Clinic “warnings.”

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