Sexual Assault Services
Most major cities in Canada offer assault/ rape crisis centres and services. Some of these maintain a 24 hr crisis line. If you are a student, the women’s centre or counselling services at your university may be able to assist you. If you call a general crisis line, they should be able to provide information on available services in your local area.
Legal Support
Update: please see our post on legal support for victims of EWB.
If you have experienced assault, harassment, or discrimination in an institutional setting and are deciding whether to report, or have reported already and are experiencing retaliation, you may want to seek legal advice. (Please note that powerful abusers are increasingly wielding SLAPP threats to silence their accusers). Depending on your financial situation, you can contact your local Legal Aid to receive free or discounted advice. At the moment, we don’t know of many other options (there is no #TIMESUP legal fund in Canada) but we are talking with others and researching available supports. Sexual assault counsellors or services can help talk you through the pros and cons of reporting to police or other authorities, or assist with safety planning.
Other Resources
The founder/ originator of #metoo, Tarana Burke, started the movement in 2006 to support survivors of sexual violence, in particular Black women and girls and communities of colour. Visit the metoo movement site here: https://metoomvmt.org/
“Our goal is also to reframe and expand the global conversation around sexual violence to speak to the needs of a broader spectrum of survivors. Young people, queer, trans, and disabled folks, Black women and girls, and all communities of color. We want perpetrators to be held accountable and we want strategies implemented to sustain long term, systemic change.”
On March 15, 2019, InterAction announced their 3-year project “Pledge to Action”, emphasizing “Zero Tolerance for Doing Nothing.” This follows on the heels of their 2018 initiative: “The CEO Pledge on Preventing Sexual Abuse, Exploitation, and Harassment by and of NGO Staff”.