Saint Mary’s Child and Young Person Clinic

At Saint Mary’s we have a dedicated clinic just for children and young people who have experienced sexual assault or rape. 

The most important thing to know about our Child and Young Person Clinic is that no one is forced to do anything they do not want to do. Children and young people are supported to make their own choices. Our doctor will listen and talk about options. They will only examine parts of the body that the child or young person is comfortable with.  

We know that occasionally people can have an injury from having sex whether it is sex they have wanted or not. It is not possible for us to be able to tell if an old injury is from a sexual assault or consensual sex. It is for this reason that we can only offer clinic appointments to young people who have not had consensual sex.   

For people who have never had consensual sex our doctors can check to see if there are any signs that an injury may once have been there, some injuries heal without any evidence being left behind. We can see people in our clinic who have been assaulted at any point in the past for an injury examination.

Although rare, children and young people can get sexually transmitted infections after sexual assault. In our clinic we can screen for infections like this and if necessary offer treatment.