Lambton County Council is backing the call for increased and sustainable provincial funding for community-based sexual assault support centres after years of continuous upticks in demand for programs.
The motion for support was presented to council, by the Sexual Assault Survivors' Centre Sarnia-Lambton, during Wednesday's meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
Executive Director Chantal Butterfield highlighted the increased demand during the pandemic for services, such as crisis counselling and long-term counselling programs.
In the past year, the local survivors' centre has seen a 67 per cent increase of services accessed.
"Many of those reaching out are from disenfranchised and vulnerable communities, many of those are women and girls, almost half are young survivors between 12 and 24, many are Indigenous and racialized, many are 2SLGBTQ+ survivors, many are struggling with precarious or no housing at all," said Butterfield.
However, pre-pandemic services had already started to experience an increase in demand.
"In the post 'Me Too' era, the demand for our services was at an all-time high and at that time in 2018, in response to this increase, the previous Ontario government announced an approximate 30 per cent increase to sexual violence sector in Ontario," Butterfield said. "Despite this firm commitment, under the current provincial government, the funding never became a reality. Then the pandemic hit." As specified in a list of facts presented to council, one in three women and one in six men experience sexual assault in their lifetime.
Butterfield said she has reached out to local members of provincial parliament who are open to discussing the matter face-to-face.
Councillor Brian White said in order to address areas of improvement in the community, other services need provincial support as well.
"We can't simply throw small pots of money at housing, for example, without addressing the other critical issues that sometimes lead to these issues. This is a part of our overall strategy if we look deep into the services that we provide, ensuring that our community partners are able to provide the services," said White.
"I think the message needs to be sent loud and clear to the province that it's time to step up and support people where they truly need it."
The Sexual Assault Survivors' Centre Sarnia-Lambton has provided services since 1982.