Long delay in sexual assault nurse examiner program 'unacceptable,' says Labrador MHA

A politician in Labrador says she's disappointed, but not surprised, that a long-promised sexual assault nurse examiner has yet to be put in place in the region.

Torngat Mountains MHA Lela Evansresponded Wednesdayto a CBC News story that revealed the provincial government has yet to introduce the program in Labrador and central Newfoundland, despite a commitment in 2021 from the minister responsible for women and gender equality.

"Fault has to be placed at the door of the government because government has failed to help people, has failed to provide services to help people deal with this trauma, for their families, to deal with this trauma," Evans said.

In October 2020, multiple advocacy groups lobbied the provincial government to expand its sexual assault nurse examiner programto include the entire province. The following June, Pam Parsons, minister responsible for women and gender equality, announced $250,000 had been earmarked to expand the program into Labrador and central Newfoundland.

But that hasn't happened.

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As Ariana Kelland reports, much of rural Newfoundland and all of Labrador do not have sexual assault nurse examiners. That is despite higher rates of sexual violence, and a promise from government in 2021 that help was coming soon.

An internal document obtained by CBC News through anaccess-to-information request shows the money is only now being used to hire a provincial program co-ordinatorwho will then work to train nurses in other regions. Eastern Health confirmed it's developing the position.

"When somebody or a group comes to [Parsons]identifying problems that women are experiencing, she actually has a lot of warm, fluffy words," Evans said.

"If you look at what her office is doing, her department is doing, there's no real action."

There are currently 27 trained nurses at St. Clare's Mercy Hospital in St. John's and 11 within Western Health, in Corner Brook and Stephenville.

Now what?

One of the biggest concerns, Evans said, is that victims of sexual assault are often faced with having to report their assault to police immediately or not at all.

That concern was echoed in a decision document prepared for Health Minister Tom Osborne in October.

"Often medical-forensic exams in rural areas are completed by nurses and physicians with little to no training in evidence collection,"reads the note.

"Beyond the risk of retraumatizing the patient, this may also lead to errors in evidence collection, lack of DNA findings or evidence not being accepted for court."

Currently, sexual assault victims in rural areas can have an evidence kit completed only if they are reporting the assault to police. They don't have the option of collecting the evidence and then storing it in case they decide to report the assault later.

By contrast, any man or woman who is unsure about reporting their assault to police are assured their samples will be kept indefinitelyby the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, without pressure to proceed with an investigation.

A Canadian Press investigation in 2021found Labrador had sexual assault rates four times the national average. Advocates say those high rates can attributed in part to a lack of resources and intergenerational trauma.

"Labrador has a long history of intergenerational trauma, and for us to be excluded from getting the help is totally unacceptable," Evans said. "It's totally unacceptable."

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