Montreal General Hospital wants rape kit protocol changed after woman's ordeal
CTV
The Montreal General Hospital is calling for a revision of the city-wide protocol used to treat sexual assault victims following reports of a French-speaking woman's struggle to obtain a rape kit.
The Montreal General Hospital is calling for a revision of the city-wide protocol used to treat sexual assault victims following reports of a French-speaking woman's struggle to obtain a rape kit.
The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), which oversees the hospital, says it's asking the Quebec health ministry to make an update to the decades-old system.
"We recently contacted both the [Montreal Sexual Assault Centre] and the [health ministry] to ask that we work collaboratively on revising several aspects of the protocol, including redirecting patients according to their language. We hope this work will begin soon," reads a statement from the MUHC to CTV News on Friday.
The current protocol, established in the 1970s, dictates where victims should go to obtain the procedure during off-hours, when resources are fewer. Rape kits are a set of tools used by health-care providers to collect evidence during a forensic exam following a sexual assault.
Usually, rape kits are performed at the Montreal Sexual Assault Centre (CVASM), which conducts the service in both French and English. When the centre is closed, however, French speakers are directed to the Hôpital Notre-Dame and English speakers to the Montreal General Hospital.
According to advocates, this is due to a lack of qualified personnel. Highly-specialized training is required to administer rape kits, as they may be used as forensic evidence in the event of a trial.
But cracks in this system made headlines last month when it was revealed that a woman raped in 2020 had to visit three hospitals before she could get the service.
