Western University partners with St. Joseph's Health Care to enhance support for survivors of sexual violence

Western University is adding a mobile service to its existing partnership with St. Joseph's Health Care London, which provides support to survivors of sexual and domestic violence.

Nurses will be now be available to visit campus to support students and staff 24/7, and especially during after-hours and weekends. 

"This allows us to see people needing our support within community agencies, where they feel comfortable and have given their disclosure," said Cassandra Fisher, Coordinator in Medicine Services at St. Joseph's.

"Previously, a student who disclosed violence and was directed to the program would travel, often on their own, to our clinic – a location and environment that were foreign to them – sometimes only hours after the trauma occurred," she added.

The on-campus services provided by St. Joseph's include forensic collection, which helps them put together an evidence kit, along with medical and psychological counselling at no extra cost. 

The university said this complements the survivor supports program Western already has in place, and will add more trained professionals and compassionate support for those in need. 

Terry McQuaid, Director of Wellness and Wellbeing at Western, says the aim is to let survivors have conversations with trained staff who can walk them through the options they have, whether that's filing charges or seeking treatment.  

"It's more of a survivor-centric, trauma-informed pathway for survivors to access the services they need and in the way they want," she said.

"By bringing the service to campus after hours, it makes the service even more accessible to students and makes it less daunting." 

McQuaid adds that students want to feel safe on campus, and when an instance of violence does happen, the university wants to centre the voices of survivors in a way which feels safe and comfortable for them. 

The university's goal is to create communication pathways and transparency, so people receiving disclosures know where to guide survivors to, and for survivors to know what support is available for them.  

Fisher adds that there are no timelines or session limits on counselling services, and that her team will see people for however long they need, and grant full anonymity. 

"It's an honour that people are entrusting us with being the first step in their healing journey, when people come into our program, they get to make all the decisions," she said. "It gives them back the control and power that was taken away from them."

Katreena Scott is Academic Director for the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children. She says it's helpful having open doors in multiple places for people to be able to disclose and deal with the impacts of sexual violence.