Sexual violence a hidden pandemic

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on May 5, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

There are alarming statistics, and there are really alarming statistics.

With more than 1.8 million Albertans having experienced sexual abuse in their lifetime, offences involving sexual violence clearly belong in the latter category.

According to a 2019 survey of 1,496 adult Albertans conducted by the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services, nearly half of adult Albertans have experienced some type of sexual abuse in their lifetimes, and 34 per cent of Albertans were sexually abused when they were under the age of 18.

That means, given the population of Lethbridge, an estimated 6,800 children in the city are being sexually abused.

“We’re actually only seeing the tip of the iceberg,” says Kristine Cassie, CEO of the Chinook Assault Centre in Lethbridge. “We know that very few people go forward to report to police. It is probably one of the most horrendous crimes that exists in our society.”

Cassie says there has been a slight increase in reports of sexual violence across Canada in recent years, although that doesn’t necessarily mean the incidents of sexual violence are increasing, only the reporting of them.

“I think it’s hard to measure that because so few were reported in the past,” Cassie says. She notes there has been a steady increase of crisis calls to the assault centre, and last year alone it received 560 calls. There has also been an increase in the number of people seeking counselling services.

May is Sexual Violence Awareness Month, and during this month in particular Cassie hopes people take the time to learn about the various resources to help victims of sexual violence, and learn more about the assault centre and the services it provides.

Lethbridge residents are slowly starting to understand that sexual violence is prevalent in the city, Cassie says, but many people still turn a blind eye to it. Some people simply may not believe it’s a problem because they don’t hear about incidents or because it hasn’t happened to them.

“Sexual violence knows no bounds when it comes to geography or faith, or education levels or jobs that we may have. It is something that happens, and not to create fear in our society, but we need to recognize it so we can take it out of the shadows and out of the silence so that we actually can address the issue and hold people accountable who are perpetrating these crimes.”

Cassie believes the government should do more and provide ongoing, committed funding to sexual assault centres, which only deal with sexual violence.

She’s particularly concerned about the sexual abuse and neglect of children and what they need to help them succeed in life.

“When we’re looking at our economy and needing those workers in the future and all the rest of it, there is, I believe, an onus that our province has, our governments have, and our society has on helping to support children very early in that process; that we can actually help them to be those productive citizens later on.”

Cassie points out that children are 26 times more likely to experience some type of homelessness if the trauma and impacts of sexual abuse are not dealt with early.

“So if we really want to change the course of how our society looks we need to do that early intervention.”

Cassie says considerable prevention needs to take place so sexual abuse doesn’t happen in the first place, but that means bringing the issue out from the shadows so it can be dealt with now.

“I really do believe that when we talk about pandemics…that this is a pandemic that we keep turning a blind eye to in so many ways.”

The Chinook Sexual Assault Centre has organized several educational events and activities during Sexual Violence Awareness Month, and will have displays set up at libraries in the city, Coaldale and Pincher Creek.

The activities will include a puppet show at the Coaldale Public Library at 10:30 a.m. May 15 and 17, which will teach children the difference between fun secrets they can keep and secrets they should share. There will also be an event called Pop Up Consent: Consent Is For Life, from 11 a.m to 12:15 p.m. at the Crossings Branch of the Lethbridge Public Library May 17 and 18.

For a full list of events contact the Chinook Sexual Assault Centre.

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