These are just a few recommendations made to the Yukon government after it had requested feedback on plans to expand its Sexualized Assault Response Team (SART) to rural communities within the territory.
Yukon released the What We Heard report on April 3, according to a news release.
The report’s release follows a summer 2023 “engagement” on expanding SART, which is currently based in Whitehorse and offers victims “a safe and confidential network of services,” including free legal advice, support workers, counselling and medical care. It also operates a territory-wide support line.
Feedback largely centred on the difficulty victims outside Whitehorse experience in accessing SART programming.
“The What We Heard report brings together the voices of victims, Yukon First Nations Peoples, service providers and community stakeholders, offering a comprehensive review of the current landscape of support services and the unique challenges faced in Yukon communities,” states the release.
Tracy-Ann McPhee
“This comprehensive report represents our collective effort to ensure victims of sexualized assault receive timely and culturally sensitive support,” said McPhee in a statement. “By learning from the recommendations outlined in the report … we aim to mitigate challenges and foster safer communities for all Yukoners.”
Among other things, Yukon’s government heard of the need for:
- Clear policy and strong training so that there are “standardized protocols and procedures” for evidence collection kits.
- Additional safe houses, shelters and service hubs, as well as improved infrastructure for victims.
- Access to cultural and “land-based” healing supports.
- Making extensive trauma- and violence-informed training available to service providers.
- Increased awareness of resources and services for victims
As for the evidence collection kits, respondents reported difficulties in accessing kits due to their availability being mainly in Yukon’s hospitals, rather than within communities.
A sex assault evidence kit collects and preserves physical evidence from a victim’s body or clothing following an assault — something the report calls “crucial to support an investigation and prosecution.”
Respondents also called for adequate training for nurses in administering the kits to ensure the “integrity of evidence.”
Launched in 2020, SART works to address “a lack of awareness of what sexualized assault is” and looks to find solutions to existing problems, such as transportation and the delivery of training to service providers in various communities.
In late 2023, Yukon signed on to the federal government’s National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, a 10-year plan in which Ottawa partners with the provinces and territories in a bid to end domestic violence.
In joining the plan, the federal government gave Yukon almost $16.4 million over four years to help implement the plan in the territory. As of November 2023, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, P.E.I., Nunavut, Alberta and the Northwest Territories had also signed on to the plan.
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