TRURO, N.S.
Public outcry over the lack of a proper care for sexual assault victims in Truro has prompted a commitment from the province to expand its Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program to the area.
The commitment follows the recent news stories of two women who came forward individually to share their information of being improperly received when they presented at the Colchester East Hants Health Centre to report they had been sexually assaulted.
“The Premier has committed to having SANE services in Truro,” Health and Wellness Minister Randy Delorey said, in a letter emailed on Thursday to one of the women involved.
“Expanding SANE services in this area will assist to enhance system responsiveness to individuals who disclose an incident of sexual violence. It is an important component of a trauma-informed approach to the care of individuals who have experienced sexual assault,” the letter says.
“There is evidence that a service that promotes positive acceptance, restoration of dignity and control, an expression of concern for the individual’s well-being promotes resiliency to mental illness and enhances health recovery.
“We are developing a solution to mitigate current gaps in access in Cumberland and Colchester Counties as well as identifying options to address service gaps in the longer term,” Delorey said.
The letter was sent to the second of the two women who recently came forward with their stories. In both cases the woman asked that their identities be withheld.
“My initial reaction is that I’m excited that there’s going to be a sexual assault nurse examiner for the Colchester Hospital,” said the woman, who had also emailed information of being mistreated at the hospital in 2014 directly to Delorey on Sept. 8.
“It’s a small victory,” she told the Truro News on Friday. “We need to have more changes in regard to sexual violence and how people are dealt with. So I think this is a good first step. The reason for bringing my story forward was never to help myself, it was to prevent it from happening to anyone else.”
In the case of the first story https://www.trurodaily.com/news/truro-woman-says-she-was-told-to-go-elsewhere-after-reporting-rape-at-er-adding-to-her-trauma-237551/ published in the Truro News on Aug. 30, the woman said when she recently went to the emergency department in Truro she was never seen by a doctor or a nurse and was merely sent away with two pamphlets relating to sexual trauma for rape victims.
"I had bruises all over me," the woman said, in the first article. "I honestly thought something would be done. I didn't even have a ride home. It would have been nice to talk to a doctor. I don't know anything about what to do or what could've went wrong. Because it was a situation that I didn't remember."
That story prompted response from a second woman https://www.trurodaily.com/news/second-woman-complains-of-mistreatment-at-truro-hospital-after-reporting-a-sexual-assault-241488/ who said she received similar treatment when she went to the hospital in September 2014 to report her experience.
"It was the night my soul was taken from me," the woman told the Truro News at the time.
"I felt, that I wasn't worthy. I wasn't worthy of her time. I wasn't worthy of the emergency department's time," she said, of the response from a nurse who reportedly said: 'oh great, we're going to have to shut the emergency room down for several hours in order to do a rape kit... .'"
Following publication of the women's stories, a small rally was held in Truro in protest of their treatment and Delorey also promised that his department would investigate the allegations.
The issue of the lack of sexual assault services at the Truro hospital has also been raised repeatedly in Province House by Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River MLA Lenore Zann. As well, representatives of the Colchester Sexual Assault Centre and Women's Resource Centre have publicly spoken out and earlier this week Truro Town Council agreed to support the cause following a presentation to council by Zann and a number of other women.
“It’s a good step in the right direction,” said Zann (who is also a sexual assault survivor), on Friday. "We need and deserve to have these services available to us. The stories we’ve heard over the last month, of survivors being turned away from our hospital, are unacceptable."
The woman who emailed her story to Delorey said she believes he is taking the issues seriously.
“I was excited to hear from him,” she said. “It’s moved me to tears. It’s not sadness, I’m overwhelmed by that and I thought the minister was genuine in the response. I felt like he cared.”
She also credited Zann for stubbornly pursuing the cause.
“I’m happy that Lenore has been that squeaky wheel out there, helping to keep it on the front line within the Legislature. And I’m pleased that Randy Delorey has listened to me. He has read my e-mail and I think with compassion, he is looking at it.”
However, both she and Zann said they are now waiting for the minister to announce a time line for when the SANE program will be introduced in Truro.
A spokesperson in Delorey's office said the minister was not available for comment on Friday.
