Town of Goderich Stands With Survivors
by Bob Montgomery
The month of May is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and for this month the town of Goderich is ensuring that survivors of sexual violence are believed, supported, and encouraged to seek out services in our community.
Huron Women's Shelter Fund Development Coordinator Genelle Reid says they are running the ‘We Stand With Survivors’ campaign, which coincides with the Sexual Assault Awareness month. She says Intimate Partner Violence has been declared an epidemic across the Province and Sexual Assault and Sexual Violence aren't part of all Intimate Partner Violence, but they do tend to contribute to one another, although there are some differences.
Reid says it's quite possible that the problem is more prevalent in rural communities because of the isolation in rural communities but they don't have the data to confirm that. She says this year will be the first time Goderich has taken part in a We Stand With Survivors Campaign. “We have actually been able to speak with the Sexual Assault Centre in Renfrew County and they have been successfully running this campaign for several years. They brought the campaign forward based on a project that they ran on a grant that they acquired. They interviewed hundreds of survivors of sexual violence and from those interviews they created a model for how they were going to address sexual violence in their rural space.” One of the things that came out of that model was the We Stand With Survivors Campaign where the survivors asked for their community to see them, to hear them, and to believe them.
Reid says they got their message out by raising banners in prominent places in the community and letting the survivors know that the community sees them, hears them and believes them and also giving them a direct line to their crisis line at their sexual assault line in Renfrew County. They also asked businesses to hang posters in their windows to let people know that they were there for them as well. Reid says they've followed that model in Goderich and over one hundred businesses accept the poster for their windows, so they're very happy with the support for that. She says the banners are ready to go up as soon as the wind dies down a bit.
The Town of Goderich is hoping to run the campaign again next year and their goal for next year is to bring another community on board as well. Reid says they're also posting information on their social media page as well as their website and any survivors seeking support can reach out to their 24/7 support at 1-800-265-5506.
