Sexual Violence Support Services Community Consultations and Networking Project

In February 2016, Survivor’s Hope launched a project designed to gather detailed information about the needs of north eastern Manitoba regarding sexualized violence. We surveyed community members, service providers, and survivors of sexualized violence and asked them about what our region is lacking and what additional resources and information our communities need. Here’s what we learned.

What are the problems?

81% of survey respondents said small town dynamics and lack of access to services are the biggest problems

54% of survey respondents said beliefs that blame victims for sexual violence create fear and shame and  are major problems locally.

According to local RCMP reports and Stats Canada, it is likely that more than 1000 sexual assaults  happen in north eastern Manitoba each year.

What do our communities need?

In the surveys, our communities identified that we need the following information and services.

The information we need:

• how to help a friend or family member through an experience of sexual violence
• locally available supports
• root causes of sexual violence
• sexting and technology
• understanding trauma, sexual assault trauma, and PTSD

The services we need:

• more counselling
• more public education
• more support groups for survivors
• a variety of service providers prepared to handle disclosures of sexualized violence

What did survivors say is helpful?