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Changing Perceptions: Improving the health sector response to sexual assault

As a healthcare worker you may care for people who have been sexually assaulted whether they disclose to you or not. Learn more about how you can provide support through trauma-informed, culturally safe care and referral to anti-violence services.
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Video: Improving the health sector response to sexual assault


Report: Changing Perceptions of Sexual Assault
Research Findings and Recommendations for Improving the Healthcare Response
Changing Perceptions of Sexual Assault Report coverThe Changing Perceptions of Sexual Assault research project sought to understand the conditions and processes that supported or created barriers for people disclosing sexual assault and accessing sexual assault services in BC.
Decisions about seeking care are influenced by understandings of sexual assault, access to sexual assault services, and perceptions of safety when seeking care. Training is a key means of building and maintaining service providers' capacity for trauma-informed, culturally safe, and survivor-centred care.  Read the full report


Infographic: Sexual Assault is a Health Issue

Whether the sexual assault happened recently or in the past, it is important to provide care that addresses both acute and ongoing health impacts.

View the full infographic



Training: Introduction to Sexual Assault
Designed for healthcare workers.
This course focuses specifically on the issue of sexual assault - what is consent, what is sexual assault, how you as a healthcare worker can  respond to a disclosure of sexual assault, how to support survivors, provide them with options, make an effective referral, and care for yourself.

Register for the course


About the project

Changing Perceptions of Sexual Assault (CPSA) was a research partnership between BC Women's department of Population and Global Health and the  Ending Violence Association of BC.

Many thanks to the Community Advisory Board and the participants with lived experience, health leaders, and service providers who have entrusted us
with their experiences and perspectives.

Funding was provided through the Vancouver Foundation and the Canadian Women’s Foundation, with administrative support from the BC Women’s Health Foundation.

For questions about the Changing Perceptions project  or resources contact:  pop.health@cw.bc.ca.

To learn more about the Ending Violence Association of BC (EVA BC), visit: endingviolence.org.

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