Samantha Calvillo, a therapist and crisis counselor at UCLA’s Rape Treatment Center, is used to 2 a.m. wake up calls.

Calvillo, a UCLA alumnus, said she is responsible for accompanying victims of sexual assault during medical forensic exams. When patients come to the clinic after midnight, she drives from her home to the RTC location in Santa Monica to provide them with care, she added.

“I stay there within the entire time to make sure that they feel supported,” she said. “It’s not rushed. It’s really all led by them, letting them know that we have to do what they want to do. They’re in charge.”

The RTC provides free emergency care, forensic services and therapy for patients, Calvillo said. She added that the RTC offers support for patients of diverse backgrounds – regardless of if they experienced sexual assault hours or years before their visit.

“We just want folks to feel like they’re fully aware of what their choices are so they can make decisions after they’ve had their power and choice taken away,” said Marisa Faynsod, the RTC’s community and campus outreach coordinator.

Faynsod, who has worked at the center for nearly 15 years, said the RTC also houses a child and adolescent program – called Stuart House – and helps provide patients with access to LAPD city attorneys, district attorneys, social workers and forensic interviewers, she added.

The goal is to ensure child victims only have to tell their story once, making the process more trauma-informed, Faynsod said.

“Sexual violence doesn’t happen just during the working hours of a day,” she said. “It can happen after hours, and so our founder really prioritized that survivors should receive care whenever they need to.”

Calvillo, who has worked full-time at the RTC since 2021, said she often accompanies patients for court hearings. Seeing the resilience of survivors inspires her to keep coming back, she added.

Jane Halladay Goldman, the director of the RTC, said the center also provides guidance to entertainment leaders for sensitive messaging in television. When American sitcoms first began depicting sexual assault, producers consulted RTC staff, she added.

Several television shows – including The Pitt – have also consulted RTC to understand how medical professionals treat sexual assault victims, Goldman said.

Calvillo continues to take care of herself despite the demanding job by practicing mindfulness, meditating and regularly checking in with her mental health, she said. The RTC staff often meet in groups to process their experiences helping people who have gone through traumatic situations, she added.

For Calvillo, though, the job doesn’t feel much like work.

“Our ability to be harmed and still lean on each other and that therapeutic relationship can be so healing,” she said. “That makes me feel really honored that they’re allowing me to sit next to them during their journey.”

Many community members are unaware of the resources available to them, Calvillo said. She added that sexual assault victims often feel a sense of shame surrounding their experiences.

Staff at the RTC hope to leverage social media to foster dialogue about consent and victim blaming, Faynsod said. She added that the RTC has led several educational initiatives surrounding sexual assault, including training law enforcement and UCLA residential assistants.

“What we’re actively trying to change through our outreach and prevention work is educating people because that seems to be one of the hardest things is people don’t feel supported,” Calvillo said.

Faynsod said she is motivated by a goal to ensure victims of sexual assault are treated with dignity.

“At the end of the day, the clients or patients we work with … this is their life,” Faynsod said. “They’re the ones who endure various systems and have to overcome things. So, it is our job to honor that and portray it with the utmost respect.”