Manitoba is spending $1.3 million on a new sexual assault crisis response and healing program, which will expand the accessibility of specialized services for survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence, Families Minister Rochelle Squires, minister responsible for the status of women, announced Sunday.
“Improving the availability of patient-centred, community-based options for sexual assault or intimate partner violence survivors is a critical goal we are delivering on today,” said Squires.
“This program will be an additional resource to enable community service providers to provide forensic nursing services in a non-hospital setting as part of a trauma-informed continuum of care.”
It will complement the Provincial Sexual Assault and Intimate Partner Violence program, increasing the resources available. It includes a knowledge keeper and survivor council, reflecting the core principles of the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
“Ka Ni Kanichihk is working with the community to ensure folks who need sexual assault crisis response and healing programs are properly supported and have access where they are comfortable in their community,” said Dodi Jordaan, executive director, Ka Ni Kanichihk.
“Today’s announcement is a positive first step in meeting people where they are at, eliminating barriers and providing care centred on the needs of survivors and we look forward to working with community partners and Manitoba on much-needed prevention programs.”
Additionally, the program will improve on the provinces health-care system capacity by complementing the existing Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program at HSC Winnipeg, added Squires.
“Providing holistic, person-centred care that is culturally based and trauma-informed to support survivors is at the heart of this program,” said Ayn Wilcox, executive director, Klinic Community Health.
“Building on the expertise of survivors and those providing services to them, this innovative, collaborative model will allow us to reshape how we collectively respond in a way that allows for true healing: body, mind and spirit.”