Health-care providers confront how to talk sexual assault in the era of #MeToo
She got raped.
Someone raped her.
Both sentences technically carry the same meaning, but in one, the blame seems to lean more on the victim, the other, more toward the perpetrator.
On Saturday medical professionals met at the University of Calgary for a conference to tackle the tricky nuances of how they respond to cases of sexual violence — both on the medical side, and in terms of how they use language to make patients feel safe.
"We are seeing the changes in reporting with what's going on with our culture, with the #MeToo movement, we are seeing an increase in incidents, in terms of what I hope is on account of reporting," said Dr. Rabiya Jalil with the Calgary Sexual Assault Response Team.
Jalil said the team has seen the number of cases it treats grow steadily over the past three years. The team responds with medical treatment, emotional support and education for people that have been sexually assaulted within the past 96 hours.
From January to July 2018, 767 people contacted police to report a sex crime had been committed against them — an 11 per cent increase from the same period last year, and a 30 per cent increase over 2016.
"[I'm] hoping that patients are feeling more comfortable coming forward, telling their stories, and I want to ensure that health-care providers have the education and training to help people do that."
The 4 As
Kiara Mikita gave a workshop on how to talk about sexual violence. She said there are four As that medical professionals need to be cautious when using while talking to patients who are victims of sexual violence to avoid blaming them for their assault:
Alcohol. (Were they drinking?)
Apparel. (What were they wearing?)
Whether or not they're sexually active.
Were they out alone?
"Although professionals need to ask those questions, those things are hearable as victim-blaming because there's a lot of talks about these sorts of things," she said.
She said it's important to bring the focus on the perpetrator back into language, and give health-care providers (and the public) a new lens to examine their language through.
She suggested care providers instead preface those sensitive questions by explaining to patients that this information needs to be documented.
Other topics this year were how marginalized communities, like Indigenous and transgender people, are disproportionately impacted by sexual violence, and how to provide them with appropriate care.
Dr. Marci Bowers performs gender reassignment surgeries and reconstructive surgeries for survivors of female genital mutilation.
Bowers said one in 2,000 people identify as gender non-conforming, and in the U.S. there are 500,000 women that have had their external genitalia cut or removed.
The practice is a cultural one undertaken in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. It has no health benefits and is considered an extreme form of discrimination against women, according to the World Health Organization.
"Both of these groups face discrimination or marginalization and it's something that we should be talking about as a society," said Bowers.
Mikita said the conference was vital to help front-line workers support survivors.
"The intent is clear, the aims are clear, and what today has done is given people more tools to add to their toolbox," she said.
With files from Anis Heydari.
