IPV support program canned after causing unexpected complications in court

Nova Scotia Health has stopped providing a specialized nurse to victims of intimate partner violence who are not sexually assaulted after the program created unintended consequences in the court system.

The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program, or SANE, launched just over a year ago.

It allowed victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) to meet with a specially trained sexual assault nurse examiner, whether they had been sexually assaulted or not.

This, however, backfired in some cases, said Janelle Comeau, the director of violence prevention intervention and response program with Nova Scotia Health.

Victims would give a statement to the nurse and another to police, and sometimes there were small discrepancies.

"Even though it can be very normal for a person's statement to change over time, it was still causing adverse problems with respect to the survivor in court," Comeau said. "They were being challenged."

Comeau said the nurses were also doing DNA collection, which was an unnecessary step in cases without sexual assault.

"The victim survivors know who the person causing their harm was. It's their intimate partner. Either their current one or one from the past."

Comeau said while the program was in place, SANE nurses supported about 20 people. That translated to just six per cent of their workload.

She said they heard from partners, including the public prosecution service, that their trauma-informed approach was actually causing trauma in courts when the victims were questioned about the differing statements.

"One careful statement is better in cases where trauma has happened. It helps to reduce stress."

The program ended in December, initially causing swift concern from those who work with victims of intimate partner violence.

But Dawn Ferris, the executive director of the Cumberland County Transition House Association, said the more she learned about the rationale, the more it made sense.

"Women are blamed for their own harm so often, and then their words — if they don't align completely exactly the same in every statement — are used against them in the court process," Ferris said.