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Rape kits sadly needed

One in three women worldwide experiences physical or sexual violence in her lifetime, according to the World Health Organization.
Thuncher
Reporter-columnist Jennifer Thuncher

One in three women worldwide experiences physical or sexual violence in her lifetime, according to the World Health Organization. About 20,700 sexual assaults were reported to police in Canada in 2014, according to the latest numbers available from Statistics Canada. Numerous advocacy groups say only about eight per cent of sexual assaults are reported.

I was introduced to these troubling statistics while writing about the forensic sexual assault exams that were made available at Squamish General Hospital starting in December. The optional exams by a trained public health nurse collect evidence, which can be used in a police investigation.

When I first read the statistics, I thought to myself, they must be exaggerated, aren’t they? I certainly have never been raped.

Reflecting on my life, however, I started to feel uncomfortable. I too am part of the 35 per cent of women worldwide, though so far I have been luckier than some who have survived sexual assault.

When I was a teen, an older boy in my school came to my house with a hunting rifle and a knife and threatened me because I had apparently unwittingly rejected his advances. Luckily, my mom was home and called the police, who arrived quickly. After an hour-long standoff, my attacker surrendered. He was never charged.

Later, I briefly dated an older guy who was later convicted of rape. “Dodged a bullet there,” I thought at the time.

Another boyfriend was physically and verbally abusive.

A stranger exposed himself to me in a park and tried to pull me into the bushes when I was 20.

Going through a mental Rolodex of my female friends and family members, I can come up with one friend who I don’t think has faced sexual or physical violence.

One.

Some of the women I know were raped.

And men face physical and sexual violence too. Males accounted for 12 per cent of sexual assault survivors in 2010, according to a 2013 Department of Justice Canada report.

The troubling stats aren’t exaggerated, I now realize. They are likely under-representative.

Therefore, as sad a commentary as it is on our point in human evolution, Squamish, like every community, definitely needs the sexual assault forensic nurse and rape kits at its hospital for when the inevitable happens. 

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