‘Horrendous’ wait for sexual assault counselling
No sign of a promised $100,000 increase in funding to deal with unprecedented rise in demand
Hamilton sexual assault survivors face a “horrendous” seven-month wait for counselling after an unprecedented rise in demand but no increase in funding.
“Our sexual assault centre is getting crushed under the onslaught of requests,” said Lenore Lukasik-Foss, director of the Sexual Assault Centre of Hamilton and Area (SACHA). “The demand for our services is at a historic rate ... It’s been creeping up since the start of (Jian) Ghomeshi, #MeToo and (Brett) Kavanaugh. Every new thing that happens in the media, we get an increase in calls.”
At a time it’s needed most, SACHA is also turning down more requests than it accepts to provide education to youth, workplaces and other groups about prevention such as consent, harassment and supporting survivors.
“We’re in this #MeToo moment, the need for public education is so high because people have questions,” said Lukasik-Foss. “It’s so frustrating at a time when the public is ready and willing to talk about this issue, we are not able to meet that demand.”
There is no sign of the 22 per cent hike to its $460,000 budget that SACHA was promised by the former Liberal government in May.
We’re in this #MeToo moment, the need for public education is so high because people have questions. LENORE LUKASIK-FOSS
The $100,000 boost was slotted to pay for one of the three additional counsellors required to bring down the wait-list.
In addition, it would nearly double SACHA’s ability to provide public education by adding a second part-time position.
But the eagerly awaited funding has been on hold since the Conservatives were elected in June.
“The government is reviewing commitments to ensure they are effectively meeting the needs of Ontarians,” the Ministry of the Attorney General said in a statement. “More information will be available once the review has been completed.”
No indication was given of how long the review would take.
“Ontarians deserve to live free from the threat of violence and abuse,” says the statement. “The government is committed to continuing to invest in programs that provide supports to survivors and those at risk of violence, such as sexual assault centres.”
SACHA was not alone in having its funding increase put on hold. The Liberals announced up to $14.8 million over three years in March to increase the capacity of sexual assault centres to meet demand.
It was all part of Ontario’s $242-million Gender-based Violence Strategy, which was developed with input from stakeholders.
“The Gender-based Violence Strategy put forward a solid plan,” said LukasikFoss. “It was extremely comprehensive, so to suggest we need another review is confusing for me ... I don’t know what they’re reviewing and I don’t know what that means.”
The review comes at the same time the province has disbanded the Roundtable on Violence Against Women, which brought together 23 organizations to provide strategic advice to the government.
“It’s a clear indication that the present government is not putting the safety of women and children as a high priority,” said Pamela Cross, former co-chair of the roundtable. “The news about the sexual assault centre in Hamilton and same news for sexual assault centres across the province is really devastating to these grassroots organizations that really live hand to mouth at the best of times ... I think it’s outrageous.”
Right now, SACHA sees survivors within five days of them making contact with the centre to give initial support. But afterwards, they are put on the seven-month waiting list for individual counselling.
“It is horrendous,” said Lukasik-Foss, who was also a member of the roundtable.
“I have taken calls from survivors who are justifiably angry with this situation and I feel horrible,” she said. “People are yelling and they’re crying because they’ve just reached out and now they have to wait.”
While waiting, they can call SACHA’s crisis line for immediate help. But it is also overloaded with a 100 per cent increase in calls over the last three years.
“Seven months, that’s a really long time,” said Cross. “Very often, a woman has struggled to decide whether or not she’s going to open up to anybody about what’s happened to her. She makes a call and she’s told it’s seven months until she can see somebody. She may never surface again. That may have been her moment to make that connection.”
Appropriate funding for Ontario’s sexual assault centres is “long, long overdue,” says NDP leader and Hamilton Centre MPP Andrea Horwath.
“We have a crisis in Hamilton,” she said. “We have wait-lists that are pretty long and we have services that are absolutely overwhelmed. Not only do victims of violence not get the supports they need, but we’re not doing the kind of work that needs to be done to educate around sexual violence.”
Lukasik-Foss calls it “irresponsible” to encourage survivors to come forward but have inadequate resources to help them.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in people speaking about this issue and needing support,” said Farrah Khan, former cochair of the roundtable. “If we don’t have sustainable funding for the movement to end this violence, it will continue to happen ... Nobody in this province should feel like they cannot get the support they need when violence occurs.”