The centre will use the money to work with non-governmental victim service providers and professionals in law enforcement and justice in Shelburne, Yarmouth and Digby counties to provide training sessions on sexual assault.
This training will cover topics such as the neurobiology of trauma, the lived experience of victims and survivors and challenging myths and stereotypes.
The funding also will help develop resources in English and French to better inform victims and survivors of sexual violence about the criminal justice system.
The funding was announced March 31 by West Nova MP Colin Fraser and South Shore-St. Margarets MP Bernadette Jordan on behalf of Jody Wilson-Raybould, the federal justice minister and attorney general.
Bernadette MacDonald, executive director of the Tri-County Women’s Centre, welcomed the announcement.
“This funding will enable us to provide specialized training on understanding trauma and practices that service providers can apply in working with victims of sexualized violence who suffer from trauma,” MacDonald said.
Lisanne Turner, sexualized violence intervention services coordinator with the Tri-County Women’s Centre, said these opportunities for service providers to train together – from justice and law enforcement professionals to community-based agencies – “will improve our collective practices and encourage closer working relations across all services. By applying these best practices, victims of sexualized violence will feel safer in coming forward for services.”
Three-year funding effort
In the fall of 2016, up to $12 million over three years was made available under the Victims Fund for projects designed to improve the criminal justice system’s responses to sexual assaults against adults. This funding has been made available to provinces and territories, municipal governments, criminal justice professional organizations and non-governmental organizations.
