Survivors of sexual assault in northern Ontario face major barriers when trying to access timely, according to a new report by She Matters, a Sudbury-based organization.

The study, Does Geography Impact Access to Justice?, found that distance, lack of staffing and a shortage of trained forensic nurses make it harder for survivors in northern and rural areas to get sexual assault evidence kits — also known as "rape kits."

Those kits are often the main piece of evidence in the few sexual assault cases that make it trial.

“Geography does impact your ability to access both forensic evidence collection and support resources,” said Jacqueline Villeneuve-Ahmed, founder and director of She Matters. 

“For some it was having to be transported to a hub city like ours, and for others we spoke to it was not having access to a timely examination.” 

Villeneuve-Ahmed said that this research directly follows their earlier work on a report released in 2021 that found 41 per cent of hospitals and healthcare centres in Canada did not have forensic evidence collection kits available. 

This new volunteer-led study, driven by $530,000 in federal funding, gathered feedback from 581 hospitals and health centers, as well as 62 survivors across northern Ontario, northern British Columbia and the Yukon.

“One of our participants, Destiny… she shares that she was living in a small rural community in [northern Ontario] and the only evidence collection was available at a hub city. So she had to travel about an hour and a half to get to that hub city in the back of a police car,” Villeneuve-Ahmed said. 

“She says after going through all of that, she was up for more than 30 hours and then had to do evidence collection.” 

Villeneuve-Ahmed said another participant from northern Ontario wanting to access a forensic sexual assault evidence kit was told after waiting 14 hours in a health clinic that staff couldn’t handle her case that day.

She said those delays can discourage survivors from reporting their assaults or pursuing legal action all together. 

Filling the gap on Manitoulin Island

On Manitoulin Island, Noojmowin Teg Health Centre has been trying to fill that gap.

The Ka Naad Maa Go: Sexual and Domestic Violence Services program launched in 2020, offering forensic nursing, counselling and cultural support for survivors from seven First Nations on the island and Anishinabek people in the surrounding district.

“There was concern with individuals that had been assaulted or experiencing domestic violence, that they would have to go to Sudbury to see a nurse for forensics. A lot of times individuals wouldn't want to leave Manitoulin,” said Deborah Francis, executive director of Noojmowin Teg. 

“They've already been traumatized and if it was escorted by police, they would be traveling with police to the city, which, depending where you live on Manitoulin, could be anywhere from, two hours to four hours.”

With its local service, Francis said the centre can now provide care closer to home at the centre or at nearby hospitals, but staffing shortages have forced it to reduce hours to 8 a.m to 8 p.m. with shorter hours on weekends. 

“It’s hard enough to find people full-time, never mind casual and after-hours work, so there’s less nursing hours to provide 24-hour care.” she said. 

“We’ve almost had to go into our contingency plan, which is not how we want to operate. But you can only do so much with so little.”

Francis said that transportation challenges, the housing shortage and the fear of social repercussions in close-knit communities also make some choose to stay with an abusive partner.

Calls for investment

Both Francis and Villeneuve-Ahmed say northern and Indigenous-led models like Noojmowin Teg’s need more support and could be replicated elsewhere.

“I think addressing the barriers and providing more humanized care and it's kind of a good place to start,” said Villeneuve-Ahmed.

She Matters is calling on the federal government to ensure all survivors can access forensic evidence collection in their home communities, without having to travel long distances. 

“From a federal level, we hope that the barriers survivors are currently facing… are finally acknowledged with a call to action of what happens next in terms of solutions and a mandate for forensic evidence collection to be available to every survivor in their home community,” she said.