Nunavut youth workers learn strategies to assist victims of abuse
More than two dozen people, including RCMP officers and social and youth workers, took part in a five day workshop in Iqaluit designed to assist victims of child sexual and physical abuse, learning strategies to properly communicate with young people and help them safely share their experiences.
The workshop, which wrapped up Tuesday, was held by the RCMP and the territorial government's department of Family Services. It's of particular importance to Nunavut residents — the territory has one of the highest rates of child sexual and physical abuse in the country.
In March, a non-profit organization, Voice Found, held free workshops in Iqaluit aimed at helping adults recognize signs of child sexual abuse.
Dawn Scott, who manages Illagittugut, the Iqaluit youth home, says she sees how abuse ravages the lives of young Nunavummiut. Often, she says, cases aren't reported to police because victims don't want to re-live the trauma.
"I have seen many times when the process itself has overwhelmed the child," says Scott. "They become exhausted, less likely to be able to remember clearly."
The seminar taught Scott, and other participants, strategies to help young people share their experiences without retraumatizing them. That includes things like recording interviews, so a young person doesn't have to tell their ordeal to several people.
"We were discussing as a team how to interview the child one time and make sure we also record properly with video and other equipment," she explained. "Then that's how we would reduce the trauma, by everyone who needed to observe the interview would be out of the child's view, or watching it on film later."
Rebekah Williams, the deputy minister of Family Services, says another priority during the workshop was giving social and youth workers strategies to ensure youth understand what is going on.
"In some of the smaller communities, children don't speak very good English," she said, highlighting the need for investigators to work with Inuktitut interpreters when language is a barrier.
Those are good lessons for youth worker Scott, who says the seminar made her feel "much more capable of doing a better job."
The group also learned strategies for better reporting, including how to gather evidence and how to protect a crime scene.
