Dear Editor
The provincial budget came out last month and there is plenty to talk about, but I can鈥檛 seem to wrap my head around the zero per cent increase to sexual assault services province wide, yet again.鈥�
Statistics Canada says one in three women and one in six men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. That鈥檚 not just your friends and family, it鈥檚 you and me, too. Not only that, Saskatchewan has one of the highest rates of interpersonal violence in Canada.
I don鈥檛 need to tell you people who experience sexual violence carry a lot of guilt and shame, often in silence. Fact is that less than 0.5 per cent of all cases go to court, leaving over 99 per cent of survivors without any closure.鈥�
Province wide, local sexual assault centres have seen a spike in the demand for their services. With #metoo, sexual assault survivors are reaching out for help more than ever, and are telling their stories.
聽I spoke with a friend, the executive director of the Battlefords Area Sexual Assault Centre, and she told me they saw a median increase of 70 per cent in their clientele last year. They expect the need for services will only continue to grow.鈥�
Despite demand, the 2018 provincial government promised no funding increases to any services targeting gender-based violence, all of who are funded through the Ministry of Justice. BASAC has not seen an increase in six years and have been told they won鈥檛 for another three. Nine years without even a cost of living increase is basically a decrease in funding. 鈥�
Knowing this, I can鈥檛 help but feel sick when government ministers are quoted saying 鈥渨e believe and support survivors,鈥� or using survivors鈥� stories for cheap political points and to avoid answering serious questions about their own integrity as leaders. It鈥檚 obvious to me that, when the chips are down, this government honestly doesn鈥檛 give two hoots about survivors.鈥�
As it stands now I have been told that, due to the lack of funding, BASAC鈥檚 board and director are having to make the tough decision to cut their services. They have been forced to suspend counselling services in Meadow Lake and the north, their 24-hour crisis line and after-hours hospital support and their prevention education programs in schools and communities.
With #metoo happening today, if we don鈥檛 educate the kids now, what will we see tomorrow?
Avery Beaudin
North Battleford
