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Does Geography Impact Access to Justice?

Access to Evidence Collection in Rural and Remote Communities

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Summary

She Matters, funded by Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Canada, conducted this project to address barriers to forensic evidence collection for sexual assault survivors in rural and remote communities, specifically in the Yukon, Northern BC, and Northern Ontario. This study builds on their 2021 report, Silenced: Canada's Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Accessibility Crisis, which found a widespread lack of access to Sexual Assault Evidence Kits (SAEK) and Sexual Assault Forensic Examinations (SAFE) across Canada, with more remote areas having worse access, impacting survivors' access to justice.

Origins of the Project

Undertaken by She Matters, a community of Canadian survivors and allies united in healing, support, education, and advocacy, and funded by Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Canada, this project was designed to address barriers to accessing forensic evidence collection for survivors of sexual assault in rural and remote communities. The study examines the factors limiting survivors’ access to forensic evidence collection in the Yukon, Northern BC, and Northern Ontario.

The current study builds from Silenced: Canada's Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Accessibility Crisis (2021), a 12-month study of sexual assault evidence kit accessibility in Canada, also undertaken by She Matters. Sexual Assault Evidence Kits (SAEK) and Sexual Assault Forensic Examinations (SAFEs) are thought to be widely available in Canadian emergency room departments and health centres across the country. This volunteer-led study contacted 700 hospitals and health centres. Feedback from 581 facilities revealed a lack of access to forensic evidence collection and support services, in turn, affecting access to justice in Canadian courts. The more northern and remote, the worse access becomes.

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Objectives

  • Research the impact of geography on care and forensic evidence access for survivors.
  • Investigate the lived experiences and challenges of survivors seeking care.
  • Identify critical interactions survivors say would honour and improve post-assault healing
  • Explore/ideate trauma-wise emergent, patient, and discharge care pathways to enhance short-term well-being and mitigate longer-term psychological and physical impacts from unresolved and multiple-occurring traumas, such as the onset of chronic pain later in life.
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Method

Drawing upon a genocide-informed and trauma-wise lens, this study integrated Indigenous Storywork and Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy (IFOT) (Archibald, 2008; Tipple, 2021; Turcotte & Schiffer, 2014). Sixty-two participants, Indigenous and non-Indigenous survivors and service providers (Northern Ontario, Northern British Columbia, and Yukon) shared their lived experiences.

Findings

First responses matter. Medical and insidious trauma compound the initial trauma of sexual assault, affect future decision-making on care, and impact long-term physical and mental health. Geographical barriers and poor access to evidence collection further amplify trauma. Survivor’s agency, culturally relevant care, and addressing remote access challenges are crucial.

Destiny, Survivor

"I was living in the community, and the only evidence collection is here at the hub city, so I had to travel about an hour and a half to get here in the back of a police car. I mean, after I went through all of that, I was up for more than 30-something hours and then had to do the evidence collection here."

L, Administrator Community Sexual Assault Centre

“That survivor was waiting there, I think, 13 hours. They refused to do the forensic exam. They refused to do any medical triage because she wasn't admitted. She was injured. She was brutally sexually assaulted. There were injuries. The doctor refused to treat them. She was Indigenous. She'd been drinking. There's not much transparency. They'll tell you, ‘We respond in four hours.’ That's just not true.”

Vivien, Service Provider

“One person said to me, “I’m just being treated as, if I'm I'm just a frying pan that you just kind of clean. You know, it's my body parts that you're prodding and poking, and I can hear you and I can see you but I'm just like a thing. So, yes, yeah, further abuse being subjected to that for survivors, yeah.”

Recommendations

The Survivor Space Podcast

Hosted and Produced by Jessica Regan, and guided by Co-Producer Robyn Soulier-Ritchot, this four-part series brings the findings of Does Geography Impact Access to Justice: Access to Evidence Collection in Rural and Remote Communities to life through the stories of survivors and rights holders across Northern Ontario, Northern British Columbia, and the Yukon.

Guided by Indigenous Storywork and trauma-wise practices, each episode honours one of the Four Sacred Directions — East, South, West, and North — moving through stories of survivance, self-advocacy, reimagined care, and hope. Listeners are invited to witness these stories with care, learning how geography, colonialism, and systemic inequities continue to shape access to justice and healing.

This podcast is a return. A way of bringing the research home to the communities, advocates, and survivors who shared their truths and made this work possible.

The Survivor Space Series:
Does Geography Impact Access to Justice
1:30:50
 

Download the Full Report

You can download the complete report by clicking the button below. 

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Dedication

In bringing this report together, we made an intentional effort to move away from colonial practices of producing and sharing knowledge. Our approach is rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing—honouring story as knowledge, land as witness, and healing as both individual and collective.

To the rights holders who continue to speak into institutions that silence them, who push for change even when the weight of those systems makes it difficult to be heard — we see you, and we honour your calls for change in this report.

And to those in positions of authority: may you read these words with openness and hold them with responsibility. Ensure that this report does not end here — but becomes a catalyst for real, lasting change.

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