BRANTFORD - Ask Joanna Brant what resources are available in the area to young males who have been sexually abused and her frustration is clear.
“Could you ask a tougher question?” said Brant, executive director of the Sexual Assault Centre of Brant. “We’re only just figuring out how to offer adult services for men.”
In fact, she said counselling services for any victims under 16 aren’t easy to come by, but she did recommend a group in Hamilton, Ont., called Hope for Men, local male victims have been referred to with great success.
“There really is an absence of specialized help for males in Brant,” she said.
At Paris District High School, there is a referral service set up for females over 16 who can reach out to staff if they have been sexually assaulted, as well as the option to attend weekly victim support meetings.
Brant recommends that, if a young male has been the victim of sexual abuse, to reach to one of his school’s guidance counselors or staff.
The greatest challenge to establishing programs for youths, and males in particular, is the lack of funding available, which usually comes from the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General (MAG), Brant said.
Pioneering programs in helping male victims of sexual abuse such as the Mens’ Project in Ottawa have recently been in talks with MAG to obtain more funding after an extensive report recommended further support for such programs was issued by Justice G. Normand Glaude, who presided over the four-year Cornwall Public Inquiry from 2006 to 2010.
The inquiry looked into how public institutions responded to allegations of historical sexual abuse.
MAG is in the midst of building a provincewide network of agencies to respond to cases of sexual assault based on Glaude’s recommendations.
Brant finds that MAG’s approach to funding sexual assault support services is “short-sighted” in that it has left SAC of Brant not properly equipped to help all the victims it can, particularly males.
“We have so little resources and the needs are so complex,” she said. “Our client base needs a lot more.”
The need in Brantford, County of Brant and Six Nations was made abundantly clear to her during a recent conference held in Oshweken for male survivors of sexual abuse.
With little publicity, the conference quickly filled up with numerous male victims among the 220 in attendance.
Brant was happy to see so many frontline responders, particularly police officers, show up for the conference and listen to victims speak of their experiences.
“It has shown how one helpful adult was able to get them the assistance they need,” Brant said.
The conferences, which have been held in many communities across Ontario, are organized by Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Shelley Tarnowski, provincial coordinator of the OPP's Abuse Issues section.
“The conference was amazing and extremely inspiring and hopeful for many survivors who were in the room,” said Carrie Sinowski, community education and outreach coordinator for SAC Brant.
The conferences are open to everyone, but aim to bring in police officers, EMS paramedics, social workers, health care workers, educators and Community Living workers.
TAYLOR THE TURTLE
Last December, the Sexual Assault Centre of Brant received $24,100 to increase access to information for preventing sexual assault of young children and adults with developmental disabilities using Taylor the Turtle -My Body Belongs to Me workshop kits and website developed for parents, children and teachers.
Developed by SAC of Brant, the program teaches students “how to articulate their needs in health and safety in an assertive, non-aggressive, clear way” and ‘emotional literacy,’ "the ability to connect our bodies to our feelings and our feelings to our expression," reads a letter sent to parents who will be participating in the Taylor the Turtle program in class.
"Studies have found that children who are well connected to their bodies and can express their needs have a lower chance of being sexually abused, and if they have been they are more willing to share that experience with a caring adult," reads the letter.
The program is also designed to include non-offending mothers.
Brant explained that Taylor the Taylor teaches students the importance of having a safe school, how to recognize when they feel unsafe and how their bodies feel when they are scared.
"It sounds very basic, but it's really empowering," Brant said.
Considering the likelihood a child in the classroom has already been sexually abused, Brant said Taylor seeks to avoid isolating the child even further.
"Chances are there's a little kid in the class who knows something is wrong, but we don't want to put the onus on them to do something," she said. "But we do want to facilitate the ability for them to get help."
Taylor the Turtle has since been introduced to a number of classrooms throughout Brantford and Brant.
“Taylor has been extremely well received in the community,” said Carrie Sinowski, SAC of Brant’s Taylor the Turtle project lead, community education and outreach coordinator. “Children seem to really feel comfortable with both the images and the content.”
The statistics on how many people are victims of sexual assault are staggering, no matter what they actually are.
Brant said the numbers tend to say 1 in 4 females have been sexually abused, while males are less frequently victims at 1 in 6, but she believes the numbers for both are likely much closer and more frequent.
"With males, it usually just doesn't get reported," she said. "The incidence of male sexual abuse is much higher."
She blames the lack of reporting by males on sexism.
“They are hurt by the image of what it means to be male,” she said, citing the common misconception sexual assault of one male by another says something about their sexual orientation.
Brant said it’s rare SAC works with someone who was only a victim of one incident, but instead clusters throughout their lives.
If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual violence, call the Sexual Assault Centre of Brant, which offers a 24-hour crisis and support line for survivors (female or male) of sexual violence, as well as friends and family members of survivors, at 519-751-3471. More information about SAC of Brant can be found online at www.sacbrant.ca, by calling 519-751-1164, 519-751-4054 for TTY or e-mailing sexualassaultcentre@sacbrant.ca.
In Six Nations, victims can call Ganohkwasra Family Assault Support Services’ 24-hour crisis support line at 519-445-4324.
The Hamilton and St. Catharines-based group Hope for Men Article ID# 3465414
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