Sexual Assault Services gets a boost
SASS director says funds will be used to improve access to supports, services
In an attempt to reinvigorate the women’s movement and advance gender equality in Canada, Sexual Assault Services of Saskatchewan and 49 other organizations across the country have received more than $18 million in federal funding through Status of Women Canada.
Announced Tuesday, SASS will receive $395,000 to fund a threeyear project to research, develop and test practices aimed at improving access to supports and services for survivors of sexual assault.
Kerry Isaac, executive director of SASS, used words such as “amazing” and “wonderful” to describe the news. “It’s enabled our organization to tackle an issue that needs to be addressed.”
Isaac said the funding will give SASS the opportunity to fulfil its mission to provide full access to supports and services for sexual assault survivors for their entire life, in all communities across the province and to decrease the rate of sexual violence.
She said a multi-sectorial advisory committee including representatives from the Ministry of Justice, Victim Services, RCMP, Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, Legal Aboriginal Women’s Group and community-based service providers has already been formed and will draft an action plan based on the research collected.
The committee will then help implement the plan beyond the three-year project period by advocating for a social policy to the provincial government. The committee will make recommendations on things such as the allocation of funds for services. Saskatchewan is the only province without a sexual violence action plan, Isaac hopes this project will change that.
She said “ensuring these resources are put in place and they’re well resourced and based on best practices” is essential.
Isaac will be going on a provincial tour this fall to gather input from SASS’s 10 member organizations, a collective group of sexual assault centres and information centres which provide counselling to sexual assault survivors across the province.
The pan-Canadian project will place a focus on underserved and high-risk communities and results collected by all 50 organizations will be shared in order to improve the co-ordination of services across the country.
“The statistics tell the story that if you are in a rural, remote area, if you are Indigenous, the likelihood of gender-based violence increases. For Indigenous women, it’s three times the rate of the general population. In rural and remote areas, (it’s) very similar,” said Terry Duguid, parliamentary secretary to the federal minister for Status of Women.
Duguid made the announcement on behalf of Status of Women minister Maryam Monsef, who was making similar announcements in Eastern Canada and B.C. on Tuesday. He said the project will not only result in a significant body of knowledge that will advance gender equality, but will also revive Canada’s women’s movement.
“The women’s movement across the country has called for this and we as a government feel it’s certainly time to do that,” said Duguid.
Each of the 50 projects will focus on three goals: Increasing women’s economic security and prosperity, encouraging women and girls in leadership and decision-making roles and ending violence against women and girls.
“But the focus will be survivors (of sexual assault) and delivering the services they need to heal and to lead productive lives,” said Duguid.
Additionally, the Canadian Women’s Foundation will create a network of 150 women leaders from across the country, chosen for their local efforts to advance gender equality with women, girls and gender non-conforming people. The network will provide a platform to promote gender equality at the national level.