“It’s a tremendous boost to supporting survivors” PG Sexual Assault Centre to receive provincial funding

The provincial government is restoring previously cut funding for programs supporting survivors of sexual assault.

This includes providing the Prince George Sexual Assault Centre, along with the centres in Vancouver, Victoria, Kamloops, and Surrey, with funding.

“It’s a tremendous boost to supporting survivors of sexual violence,” said Executive Director of Prince George Sexual Assault Centre Lynnell Halikowski.

“It’s a huge deal, the funding was cut many years ago under the Liberal government for women’s centres and sexual assault funding. As anti-violence workers, we have been fighting for a very long to see the recovery of that funding.”

Halikoski said the funding will be consistent and sustainable, which will help the five centres across the province to grow and develop.

She added the Prince George Centre is unique, as they provide their services to much of Northern BC.

“This allows us to move forward in a really concise way, and really truly provide those wraparound support services,” she explained.

Additionally, the province announced some changes to the Crime Victim Assistance Act to address victim needs.

Those include:

• Expanding access to benefits for grandparents and grandchildren by removing the requirement that they were financially dependent on the victim to be eligible for benefits;
• Expanding the definition of witness by removing the requirement that a witness had a strong emotional attachment to a victim;
• Extending the time limit for making an application for benefits from one year to two years, which will align with the time limit for civil claims in BC.