Rape Kit Resolution
Better care for all women.
BCWI Original Resolution
The BCWI passed the following resolution on a provincial level at their Annual General Meeting on April 30/2016 in Kamloops B.C.
“Be it resolved, that British Columbia Women's Institute request that every Emergency Room in BC Hospitals have a rape kit and staff trained to use it.”
Every day somewhere in British Columbia there is someone who has been sexually assaulted; some will seek medical attention and some don’t know what to do following this horrific crime.
Our research shows that all too often victims of this crime from remote, rural or small hospitals are forced to travel several hours to the nearest hospital that has both a rape kit and qualified staff to administer it. The victim is not allowed to shower or change clothing in order to preserve evidence.
The BCWI strongly urges the BC Provincial Government to implements these recommendations as quickly as possible.
BCWI Resolution Rewritten
This resolution was rewritten so it could be presented on a Federal Level in 2019 because of its level of importance and the wide spread issue of testing.
BCWI RAPE KIT RESOLUTION UP DATE 2019-02-18
In light of the various and numerous headlines in the news over the past year in Canada that highlight sexual violence in gym clubs, hockey arenas, churches, schools, college campuses, and families and that affect both male and female, youth and adult victims; we need to once again address the Resolution BCWI 2016-1 Rape Kits.
In rewriting Resolution BCWI 2016-1 we intend to find a louder voice approaching Government, by forwarding the newly written resolution to WI Canada (FWIC). Our argument is that this is definitely a national issue as evidenced in media across Canada.
Back Ground
Original BCWI survey of Health Regions across BC 2015-16
New UVIC/ UBC launch campus programs deterring rape, and on-site evidence kits for victims (2017-18)
CBC Baroness Von Sketch Show 2018 mocking institutional attitudes towards victims of rape
Government of Canada launches Gender-Based Violence Knowledge Centre (2018) Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpot and Health Minister Ginette Petipas Taylor
BCWI 2019 Resolution 1
Women’s Institutes across Canada strongly request the Canadian Government to streamline the process for evidence collection in all cases of rape and to ensure that all citizens have equal access to this service with professionals trained in Victim Services.
When perpetrators of rape can not be held to account because of slow, and inconsistently available processes in evidence collection, and in some regions a lack of evidence kits; victims are victimized twice, and perpetrators walk free to rape again.
