Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release
The Women’s Resource Centre and The John Howard Society of Brandon are pleased to play a pivotal role in the delivery of Third Party Reporting services in Brandon. Both agencies are proud to pave the way for survivors of sexual assault to have another reporting option available to them.
Third Party Reporting is a process in which survivors of sexual assault complete a report with a trained individual at an advocate agency. Here in Brandon this will be The Women’s Resource Centre or John Howard Society Brandon. They will deliver the third-party report to Brandon Police Service without any identifying information of the survivor. The survivor will not have to speak with police.
The traditional method of reporting a sexual assault can be intimidating and produces barriers to reporting. Third party reporting will reduce the number of assaults that go unreported. Survivors will have a voice within a system that they may not have otherwise accessed due to stigma, fear, and further trauma. Through these agencies, survivors will have access to individual counselling, a pivotal ingredient to begin their therapeutic process.
Brandon Police Service has been anticipating the development of Third Party Reporting. In the past, the only sexual assault survivors who were eligible for Victim’s Compensation were those who made a formal report to police. Now this compensation will be available to survivors even if they choose not to speak to police directly. The information provided by survivors to the Third Party Reporting Agencies, may also assist police in identifying offenders or trends that have gone unreported in the past as the data will be collected and tracked.
Joint efforts between The Women’s Resource Centre, The John Howard Society of Brandon, and Brandon Police Service, is the multi-faceted approach our community needs to address the barriers individuals face when initiating a sexual assault report.
The Women’s Resource Centre provides programs, services, and counselling on issues affecting women and children, including family violence while encouraging respect, diversity and equality with a feminist perspective.
The John Howard Society of Brandon’s (JSHB) mandate is to deal with crime through the lens of restorative justice. This includes involving the victims of crime to have a voice in the process, holding the offender accountable for their actions, and allowing for rehabilitation and healing for all parties involved. In addition to this, JHSB also offers programming including anger management and healthy relationship programming for men women and youth. JHSB provides this service throughout Westman and the Parkland regions victims of all genders.
