Content note: this episode addresses sexual violence.
“Not every Ontario hospital has rape evidence kits,” reads a recent Toronto Star headline. “A proposed law would change that.” May is Sexual Assault Prevention Month, and the issue of sexual assault evidence kits not being available to survivors in all hospitals - in Ontario and throughout Canada - is an important one. But sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes. Survivors may not feel safe enough to report in the first place. Evidence collection is just one piece of a complicated puzzle.
What’s the issue with sexual assault evidence kits in hospitals? And what’s the deeper story about evidence, reporting, supporting survivors, and ultimately, ending sexual violence? Nicole Pietch, Writer and Advocate at the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres (OCRCC), joins us to share her insights.
Nicole Pietsch is a past counsellor at the Sexual Assault Centre of Halton and current Writer and Advocate with the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres. OCRCC works toward the prevention and eradication of sexual violence. OCRCC’s membership includes community-based sexual violence and rape crisis centres from across Ontario, offering counselling, information and support services to all survivors of recent and historical sexual violence, including sexual harassment and sexual trafficking. Since 1998, Nicole has assisted adults and youth living with violence, including immigrant and refugee women and survivors of sexual violence. Nicole has worked with youth survivors of violence who are incarcerated, those living in an institutional settings, and Deaf youth. Nicole’s written work has appeared in York University’s Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering, and the University of Toronto’s Women’s Health and Urban Life and Canadian Woman Studies/les cahiers de la femme.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, find support options at OCRCC’s website.
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