and Advocacy/Working with Other Service Providers.
2001 INITIATIVES
These themes were the emphasis of the project for the first year. Avalon Centre developed educational materials and training programs to specifically address these issues.
During this project the following initiatives were implemented:
- Avalon Centre conducted three, one week training sessions and one, half-day session for the Halifax Regional Police. Up to 75 officers and 25 cadets received sexual assault awareness, response and investigation training.
- Three training workshops for up to 50 service providers were held during the year and addressed issues such as responding to victims of sexual violence, confidentiality and record keeping issues.
- In November 2001 we held a provincial sexual assault legal education conference for front line staff of community-based agencies. Forty-seven service providers participated.
2002
All of the endeavors of the second project year pertained to four key theme areas relating to sexual assault and the law. They were as follows:
- 1. The medical and reporting processes after sexual assault.
- 2. Confidentiality
- 3. Record Keeping
- 4. Secondary Wounding and the Legal System.
Over the year we conducted three professional training workshops, four information sessions, one key- note address, and networked with and provided consultations to 10-12 agencies pertaining to these issues. The training initiatives with the HRP and PPS continue in the 2003 training project.
2003
During the 2003 project, we focused on innovative ways to distribute and circulate sexual assault legal education resources to a wider audience of service providers across Nova Scotia. We developed four training resource manuals that enable service providers to access information and tools to assist them with establishing policies, protocols, procedures, and standards of practice to govern how they respond to victims of sexual assault. The four training/resource manuals focus on the following four areas of sexual assault and the law:
- 1. Sexual Assault Awareness and Response Training for First Responders.
- 2. The Medical and Reporting Process After Sexual Assault
- 3. Confidentiality and Record Keeping Issues: Best Practices
- 4. Secondary Wounding and the Legal System
We worked with our community partners to formulate a plan to distribute the four training resource manuals throughout the Province (and soon on this site). We continued to build on existing partnerships to develop ways to continue to provide professional training programs in the future.
2003 CONFERENCE
On March 3-4, 2003, Avalon Centre hosted “This is not TV’s Law and Order: What Really Happens During a Sexual Assault Trial”. This was a provincial training conference for frontline service providers from both community based and institution-based organizations. Forty-three representatives from various organizations and ten members of the Avalon Team participated.
This was an interactive conference during which participants followed a simulated victim through the legal process after sexual assault. Participants attended workshops and were able to view a simulated direct and cross-examination of a victim during a simulated preliminary sexual assault trial.
During the workshops, the participants were able to gain a sense of what victims of sexual assault experience as they access these services. They were educated on the roles, policies, and procedures etc. of the SANE program, the police, the Crown, and the Defense. Participants also discussed their roles assisting women through the medical/legal processes and had the opportunity to network and share ideas with one another as well as with the legal professionals.
Participants also attended workshops addressing issues relating to women and mental health, marginalized women, records applications, and working together as service providers.
