Leader staff

May is Sexual Violence Awareness Month.

In Alberta, there are around 2,500 reports of sexual violence each year, says an RCMP news release. In 2021, this number increased to over 3,000.

“In a commitment to ensuring a victim-centred and trauma-informed response is provided to all survivors of sexual violence, the Alberta RCMP is expanding its response to sexual crime,” says the news release.

“With new dedicated teams and positions across the province and a new web page with tools and information for the public, the Alberta RCMP is highlighting the importance of understanding the impact of sexual and domestic crimes in our communities during Sexual Violence Awareness month.”

The new RCMP website about sexual violence is https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ab/community-communaute/sa-as/index-eng.htm.

Recently, Corporal Courtney McCarron attended the International Conference on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Reimagining Justice in San Francisco.

In the news release, Cpl. McCarron says, “Being a voice for sexual violence is being a voice for generations to come. Our work is crucial to ending the crippling effect of trauma associated with these crimes of power and control. We need to support victims and they need to always know that the assault is never their fault.”

Slave Lake has Victim Services. It also has free counseling and other support for victims of sexual violence and their support people through The Dragonfly Centre.