Sexual assault awareness needed during natural disasters, study finds

CALGARY — Domestic violence and instances of sexual assault don’t go away during natural disasters — in fact, a Calgary researcher has found they’re magnified and often overlooked by agencies trying to help.

What Cathy Carter-Snell saw in her time as a nurse during the Calgary flood, how uncomfortable women and children were in shared hockey-arena style accommodations, led her to look for ways to help vulnerable communities through devastating natural disasters.

The Mount Royal University associate professor in the school of nursing and midwifery found in a two-part study was that many emergency agencies lacked clear policies on preventing sexual assault and violence. And in interviews, she found generally there was an overwhelming lack of awareness that sexual violence rates go up significantly during disasters.

“Counsellors were being used in disasters, but for general duty work and general counselling rather than screening for sexual violence and issues related to it,” Carter-Snell said. “One person said to me: we are more concerned about the bear outside the door than what was going on inside.”

She said the general findings were that agencies felt if people were seeking food and shelter, sexual violence wouldn’t happen.

“We haven’t got good data, but from the number of studies that have been done, we know it can be up to four or five times higher rates,” Carter-Snell said.

One study from the Canadian Public Health Association journal showed there was a threefold increase in reported sexual assaults during the Calgary flood in 2013 compared to the pre-flood period.

She said typically, those seeking shelter during disasters are more vulnerable. They don’t have resources to get out of town, don’t have family support systems, or could be migrant workers. While some models, like hockey arenas, can pose issues for women and children, she noted hotel-like accommodation also has its pitfalls. In one case she interviewed an agency which found there were attempts to recruit youth in hotel-housing as sex workers during a disaster time.

The Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) got a presentation from Carter-Snell last fall.

“What we know is when a disaster happens and people are looking for support it’s an incredibly stressful time for them, and the City of Calgary takes our responsibility to provide a safe reception centre for them very seriously,” said CEMA Deputy Chief Susan Henry. “We’ve designed our program for emergency social services that’s very survivor-centred.”

Henry said CEMA designs it’s shelter experience to be inclusive, confidential, respectful and non-discriminatory with the ultimate goal to not do additional harm.

Carter-Snell said groups must be aware about the inequity women and children face in times of disaster. Some agencies, like the Red Cross, already account for some of this security like making sure there’s adequate lighting in these shelters.

But she said there needs to be collaborative work to make sure police, social workers and sexual assault health care teams and first responders can communicate and help vulnerable populations.