UPDATED: Sexual assault services scarce in Northumberland County

By Alisa Howlett

BELLEVILLE – Victims of sexual assault who seek treatment at Northumberland County’s main hospital must travel to another city if evidence is to be gathered for prosecution.

Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg does not have the services required to provide a sexual assault forensic evidence (SAFE) kit.

Victims of sexual assault in Northumberland County are referred to the regional Sexual Assault Centre at Peterborough Regional Health Centre, where trained sexual-assault experts are available 24/7, Jennifer Gillard, the communications director at the Cobourg hospital, said.

She added that the hospital’s lack of SAFE kits and services is not a question of funding but of expertise, which is why the decision was made to establish a regional centre.

“In cases involving suspected sexual assault, it is very important that any evidence be appropriately collected in a way that is both sensitive to the victim’s needs and the police’s needs to support investigation,” Gillard said, in an email.

But for those who have been sexually assaulted, there is an impact.

“The burden of being offended against is raised because now (victims) have to drive to the hospital,” the executive director of the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre, Sonya Vellenga, said.

However, Vellenga also said there are services that provide transportation, such as Victim Services of Peterborough and Northumberland.

The executive director of the women’s shelter in Northumberland agrees local services would be preferable.

“It certainly does not help the situation that (victims) have to go out of town like that,” Linda Janzen, the executive director of Cornerstone Family Violence Prevention Centre in Cobourg, said.

In cases of sexual assault, police extend their services and can arrange transportation to hospitals. Janzen added that this too, can be an issue.

“It does take up a lot of our policing time as well, that takes hours. Possibly two hours of travel. I’m sure the (victim) is there for more than a couple of hours or more. So for the police officer involved – he has six hours right there, or she. So that has an impact on our policing here and the cost of it,” she said.

Even though there are transportation services in place, Janzen said that ultimately she would still prefer the hospital have the services to provide SAFE kits, but that would be the icing on the cake.

“I would really like to see (SAFE kits) and domestic violence exams for physical abuse with skill-trained nurses here in our emergency department,” Janzen said. She added that she understands the issue of time and money allocation, “but also for our clients – for the women in this county that we work with, or have worked with, or may work with in the future – it would be really beneficial.”

But, Janzen said there is a larger issue that needs to be examined. The problem lies within the court system when victims are being cross-examined and extends to justice services, she said.

After an offense “as a result, if you are thinking – am I going to go home and have a shower and clean myself up and patch myself back together and maybe talk to my best friend? Or am I going to go to the police and go to the hospital, have to go all the way up to Peterborough, go through a fairly intrusive exam (which is done by really well trained, caring nurses) … and then have to wait for the trial and then go through the whole horror of the level of cross-examination and quite often the guy doesn’t get convicted?” she said. “That whole package together is a big issue. Most of that issue is on the court and the problem.”

Lakeridge Health in Durham Region also has the equipment necessary to provide a SAFE kit and sexual assault victims are referred there, Bobbi Martin-Haw, the manager of the women’s health centre at Peterborough Regional Health Centre, said.

There are services available to victims in Northumberland County, but a car ride from Northumberland Hills Hospital to either of these hospitals is at least 50 minutes, not to mention that some may live on the outskirts of town.

Police, ambulance, support people and sexual assault centres are also other ways of getting victims to the hospital, Martin-Haw said.

The consensus of various websites about SAFE kits say that a test should be done within 72 hours after an offense.

Northumberland County, Kawartha Lakes, and Haliburton County are covered under the Sexual Assault Centre at Peterborough Regional Health Centre. Although anyone from outside those areas are not turned away, Martin-Haw said. Every year an average of 175 people seek services at the centre; and just over one a month come from Northumberland County, she said.