Program offers free legal advice to survivors of sexual violence
The Listen Project refers clients to lawyers for information and help
Conflicting emotions of shame, guilt, anxiety and depression following a sexual assault can leave traumatized victims feeling lost and out of control.
Each person reacts differently, said Sarah Ridley, a counsellor at the Regina Sexual Assault Centre.
“A lot of factors and variables influence their response — what is their support network like? How many resources are they connected to? And what is the response of people when they are disclosing this information?” she said.
To help survivors of sexual violence, the province has launched The Listen Project, a free legal advice program.
Victims of sexual assault, sexual harassment in the workplace and historical sexual abuse can take part in the program.
There are no age restrictions or limitations on how much time has passed since an incident of sexual violence occurred. Incidents of sexual violence don’t have to be reported to the police for clients to be eligible for the program.
The only limitation is the sexual assault must have occurred in Saskatchewan.
“In giving people options, that is giving them control,” Ridley said. “The legal system can be very intimidating for people if they don’t have experience navigating it or perhaps they’ve had an experience that was negative. They might be apprehensive about going in that direction again.”
Pamphlets with information about the program, hosted by the Public Legal Education Association of Saskatchewan (PLEA), are available at the Sexual Assault Centre.
Under the program, clients can receive a referral for up to two hours of free legal information and advice.
“Counsellors can’t speak to the legal piece in the same way a lawyer would be able to,” Ridley said. “I’m excited about it and I think it’s a really additional resource available to the community.”
Sometimes people don’t know if they should go forward with a complaint to the police or what’s entailed in being a witness, said Justice Minister and Attorney General Don Morgan.
The program will help victims make more informed decisions and learn about available supports, he added.
“Do they need to be referred to a transition house? Is the perpetrator a family member? Do they need to consider whether they need restraining orders? Is there a civil aspect? Are they going to go through a criminal prosecution?” Morgan said. “There’s a variety of different questions that may well come forward from a victim.”
Funding for the program was provided by the Department of Justice Canada through the Federal Justice Victims Fund.
The province has contracted with PLEA to deliver the pilot program, said Betty Ann Pottruff, a senior policy adviser with the Ministry of Justice.
She noted if there’s been more than one incident of sexual violence, victims can ask for up to four hours of legal advice.
“We think that will be adequate, but we will find out,” Pottruff said. “The program is going to be evaluated over the next four years.”
She estimated the program could serve 200 or more survivors a year.
“If the survivors who contact the program require less than two hours then that frees up time for others,” Pottruff said.
“We’ll learn as we go through the program how far we can stretch the advice.”
The feds will provide $190,000 per year to cover the program’s costs until 2021. Lawyers participating in the program will be paid $88 an hour, the same rate as legal aid lawyers.
According to research, fewer than 10 per cent of sexual assaults are reported to police, Pottruff said.
“For many people, they have unresolved issues which they’ve never had an opportunity to get legal advice on,” she said.
Saskatchewan has high rates of sexual victimization, but the exact number of assaults is not known.
Survivors can contact the program online or by calling 1-855258-9415 toll-free.
Ridley was among those who provided trauma training sessions to lawyers in Regina and Saskatoon taking part in the project.
The sessions included educating them about how trauma can impact the brain and some common trauma responses.
“It was really about being trauma-informed when people have experienced sexual violence,” Ridley said. “How to be sensitive in how you’re talking to people and asking questions during that twohour legal consult.”