After four years, a program allowing sexual assault survivors to get relevant post-assault care and optional forensic exams done at UBC Hospital is still going strong.
Since 2016, anyone 13 or older of any gender who has been sexually assaulted in the past week has been able to get specialized treatment and an optional forensic exam at UBC Hospital Urgent Care between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily.
The treatment and exam are performed by a specialized, on-call team from BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre. Survivors can request emotional support and accompaniment from the AMS Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC) before, during and after their hospital visit. Before the program began, survivors had to travel to Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) to get an exam done at their emergency room, which continues to offer sexual assault exams 24/7.
In an interview with The Ubyssey, Dr. Tracy Pickett, medical director of Sexual Assault Service at BC Women’s, said that 25 sexual assault patients were seen at UBC Hospital last year by a specialized team from BC Women’s. The majority of sexual assault patients served by BC Women’s Sexual Assault Service, around 350, still presented at VGH last year.
Ebony Swanson, SASC support & advocacy coordinator, said that SASC usually accompanies between one and three survivors a month to UBC Hospital.
The actual exams conducted can involve taking the patient’s statement, collecting clothing samples, swabbing for forensic evidence, taking blood and urine samples for toxicology and conducting and documenting a physical exam.
Pickett said that patients are able to choose which parts of the exam, if any, they would like to undergo.
“[The patient] has their own leeway in what they want done.”
When staff identify a sexual assault patient, Pickett said they move the patient to a private area, to provide individual, confidential support.
Pickett noted that as a smaller facility than VGH, UBC Hospital offers the advantage of being a quieter and less threatening site for patients who have experienced trauma.
BC Women’s will also store the kit for a for survivors while they decide whether or not they want to turn over the evidence to the authorities. While other parts of Canada have struggled with being able to store these kits for a sufficient amount of time, no such problem exists for BC Women’s.
“It has meant that we’ve had to buy more freezers and bigger freezers,” Pickett said. If the patient needs more time after a year, they will hold on to forensic samples for longer than a year.
Impact of the pandemic
SASC had to pause hospital visits for now due to COVID-19 related visitor restrictions. But on August 17, Swanson said the centre has restarted the service.
There are added barriers to getting support that survivors face with COVID-19, Pickett said. For example, personal protective equipment worn by health care professionals to guard against the disease could have psychological effects.
“People are really frightened that they might be getting exposed to COVID by going to an urgent care centre or a hospital,” she said, noting that she hoped that the quieter setting of UBC Hospital may offset some of that.
“Particularly for survivors of gender based violence, masks can be a really scary thing.”
Pickett was unable to go into specifics on convictions secured with evidence collected at UBC Hospital, but spoke to the service’s value in providing accessible support to those sexual assault survivors.
“We wouldn’t be offering the service if we didn't think it would be helpful.”
SASC can be reached for sexual assault support at 604.827.5180 or sasc@ams.ubc.ca.