A metro-area lawyer is raising the alarm about the number of sexual assault nurse examiners in the province.
There are only two nurses available in the province 24/7 who are trained for that kind of work – one in St. John’s and one in Corner Brook – and that’s a serious concern for lawyer Lynn Moore.
She told VOCM Open Line with Brian Callahan that leaves a serious gap in rural parts of the province.
“It’s very important for the administration of justice that people have access to someone who’s been trained in trauma-informed practices to help someone through what is a pretty invasive and unpleasant gynecological examination after a sexual assault.”
Moore says what makes the shortage even more concerning is the fact that exams have to “be done in a timely fashion, or else the biological evidence is lost.”
She says it’s “troubling” that more specially-trained nurses are not available…”especially given (that) Newfoundland has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the country, and the fact that this service is not available is very discouraging.”
Tony Wakeham at the TechNL summit (VOCM News)
Premier Commits to Working with Industry to Make Changes
Meanwhile, Premier Tony Wakeham agrees that increased access to sexual assault nurse examiners is needed.
He says the health minister recently talked about the issue, and says they will “absolutely” look at doing that. He says he looks forward to working with industry to make that happen.
