Sheila Early, Program Coordinator for Forensic Health Sciences, recently set me a link to an article in The Province. This article discusses the care, or sometimes, lack of care, that sexual assault victims receive in rural communities:
“In rural communities, victims’ advocates say, some physicians and nurses aren’t comfortable handling sexual assault cases and are scared about getting caught up in the justice system. As a result, victims sometimes have to be driven hours away to urban hospitals for treatment.”
Some practitioners do come to the defence of the victims, saying all hospitals must be prepared to give the level of care that sexual assault victims require:
“‘When they have the courage to come forward, you have to be there,’ said Delcia Brideau of the sexual assault nurse examiner program in Moncton, N.B.”
An interesting, if not controversial, read…