Victims of sexual assault in St. Catharines are asking for help

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Concerns tonight that sex assault victims in Niagara aren’t getting the treatment they need. The Niagara Sexual Assault Centre says victims are sometimes being taxied to Hamilton or Burlington instead of getting help at the St. Catharines hospital.

For two weeks earlier this month, the local hospital closed down its 24/7 sexual assault and domestic violence treatment program.
“It was very concerning to us. You know we tell people if something like this happens to you to go to the hospital.” Cheri Huys, sexual assault centre.

The service is now back up and running part-time, but is not expected to see round-the-clock service until the end of September. When there are no staff on-site, victims are medically cleared at the hospital’s emergency room and then given the option to take a taxi to Burlington or Hamilton to have a forensic evidence kit taken and the kit remains in those out town hospitals until the victim decides to go through with an investigation.

The St. Catharines hospital released this statement: “We are very sorry for the difficulties our temporary staffing situation has caused. We have an interim plan in place for staffing of the centre while we recruit new staff.”

The Niagara Sexual Assault Centre says this has been an on-going issue for years. It says the lack of coverage may have some victims losing confidence in the system. Huys says she knows of at least one victim that did not want to travel to Hamilton to get the tests done. The hospital says they have a small team of nurses that specialize in sexual assaults and are looking to recruit more.