Sexual Assault Services Lunenburg Queens:

Bridging Gaps in Sexual Assault Response

January 2019 – January 2020

In partnership with diverse first responding and community-based agencies on the south shore

Funded by: Lunenburg County Community Health Board and Queens Community Health Board

A comprehensive sexual assault response developed collaboratively by community partners in 2015, “Sexual Assault Services Lunenburg Queens” (SASLQ), had been disrupted by changes in leadership, structure, funding and new requirements in 2018. This response included Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE’s) to collect forensic evidence, mental health support, and a ‘Sexual Assault Response Team’ (SART) that included specially designed and signed protocols from each partner agency so that first responders could deliver comprehensive, trauma-informed, survivour-centred, culturally competent – medical, forensic, legal and supportive response to all survivours of sexual violence aged 16 and older in Lunenburg and Queens counties.

In 2018, the Department of Health and Wellness and the NS Health Authority embarked on a multi-year roll-out of a new standardized SANE program across the province. In this transition time, SASLQ had essentially been suspended and Lunenburg and Queens Counties communities were left without a dedicated community response for sexual assault victims; referrals dropped dramatically; and there was confusion on where and how survivours could access seamless support and care.

Project funding from the Lunenburg and Queens County Community Health Boards allowed Be the Peace Institute (BTPI) to reengage the SASLQ community partnership and work together to fill service gaps in this transition year. By coordinating multiple community-based and first responding agencies including: Bridgewater Police Service, RCMP, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program, Harbour House, Second Story Women’s Centre, South Shore Sexual Health, Victim Services, South Shore Regional Education Centre and others, BTPI helped realign cohesive protocols and increase public awareness of a more seamless, accessible and skilled response for survivours in our communities.

Project update: when funding for project coordination ended, the SASLQ partnership determined that this effort be sustained by housing SASLQ within the Bridgewater “Hub Tier 1” interagency table to ensure a comprehensive and uninterrupted sexual assault response continues to be available on the south shore.

An integrated response to sexual violence:

This infographic was created by Be the Peace Institute as a visual tool for service providers, survivors and decision makers to illustrate what a more integrated response to sexualized violence might look like, offering survivors different paths and choices when seeking help with specialized services that should be readily available.