'It's about time' to address cycle of sexual abuse in First Nations: B.C. frontline worker

A frontline worker helping Northern B.C. First Nations communities says focused action to deal withsexual abuse on reserves is long overdue.

"I think thatfor someof thereservesthe statsof sexual assaults are much higherthan we'd ever want to understand or know,"Laurel Collins toldCBC'sDaybreak North host RobertDoane.

As a program coordinator withB.C.'s Justice Education Society, she travels to reserves across the province talking to Indigenous peoples about sexual abuse, exploitation and molestation.

• Cabinet ministers set to discuss sexual abuse on reserves, says Bellegarde
• Solving the legacy of indigenous sexual abuse: think globally, act nationally

Earlier this week, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegardepledged to raise the issuewith federal cabinet ministers following an investigation by The Canadian Press.

During their months-long probe, a number of leading Indigenous experts, including former Truth and Reconciliation chairman MurraySinclair, flagged alarming levels of sexual abuse in some communities and links to the suicide crisis among Aboriginal youth.

A cycle of abuse

"There isa lot of sexual abuse that happened during that time [of residential schools], and many people didnotprocess or deal with that trauma," she said.

"There is often two [end results]that come out of sexual assault ...either becomingre-victimizedthroughrelationships as you get older, or becoming a perpetrator, which is often the other end ofit."

She says "quite often," sexual assault is committed by family members, creating a cycle of abuse.

Bellegardehas also highlighted the issue, pressuring First Nations leaders to address it atan annual meeting that beganTuesday inGatineau, Quebec.

Barriers to healing

But along with the trauma of being abused or exploited sexually, Collins sees several barriers facing those trying to heal.

Among them, she says, is the stigma associated with coming forward, and the potential damage to a victim'sfamily that comes with reporting the abuse, if it was carried out by a relative.

She says complex relationships between First Nationsand the RCMPcan also lead to hesitation to report abuse, meaning perpetratorscan go unpunished.

Some of theorganizations working to help victims overcome those barriers are the Community Against Sexual Exploitation of Youth, and the Northern Native Public LegalEducation program

Education desperately needed

The latter allows Collins to visit communities anywhere from100 Mile Houseup to the Yukon border, and from the Alberta border west toHaidaGwaii.

She says in many places, the education gap aboutabuse is surprising.

"Alot of people don't really understand everything about sexual assault and exploitation: what are the effects of trauma?What does it look like? How do we heal?"

But she sayseducation is only the beginning of the process.

Creatingsolutions

Collins believesfunding is needed to expand outreach programs that workalongside the Indigenous communities that are struggling.

"We need to bebringingmore services to the communities and [to work]in culturally appropriate manners with the communities to empower them and work on their healing process," she said.

"Until people make those choices, the cycle can just keep going."

To hear the full interview, click on the audio labelled 'For some of the reserves, the stats of sexual assaults are probably much higher than we'd ever want to know'.

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