09-08-2025
‘Their injuries are being seen': B.C. hospital's new tool in fight against sex assault
A new tool at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver is being touted as a game-changer for survivors of domestic and sexual assault.
The hospital's Forensic Nursing Services team recently acquired a CortexFlo camera, which uses blue lighting to help identify injuries that may not be obvious to the naked eye.
Jacquie Miller, coordinator of the hospital's forensic nursing services program, said the images it captures powerful evidence to help survivors' cases in court.
'The visual impact alone. We do a wonderful job of describing injuries and measuring injuries and accurately documenting a patient's story,' she said.
'But being able to actually show photos of the injuries to a judge, to a jury, could potentially change the decision a judge and jury make about a case. It validates and corroborates a patient's story.'
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The $37,000 tool was purchased with funding from the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation.
Before the team acquired the camera, North Shore patients seeking forensic photography had to travel all the way to Surrey Memorial Hospital.
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Forensic nurses at HSC supporting survivors
'Our programme is very patient-centred, and we use a very trauma-informed approach, so we're aware that the logistics surrounding transportation and travel might be enough of a deterrent for a survivor to not seek the help they need after an incident of physical violence or sexual violence,' Miller explained.
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Global News spoke to several lawyers and police officers who said they didn't know if CortexFlo imagery has been tested in B.C. courts.
On its website, the company says the forensic technology is being used in hospitals and clinics in seven countries globally, including the U.S., with more than 20,000 exams completed.
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Advocates like Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director of Battered Women's Support Services, say the technology is no substitute for legal and social reforms to tackle the root causes of gender-based violence.
'So this looks like a win because here we have an evidence collection tool, but for us it looks like another piece of the puzzle that survivors will have to navigate, in the hope that the criminal system will see it as helpful,' she said.
Last month, Lions Gate's forensic nursing team marked its first anniversary of service.
Vancouver Coastal Health says in that time it's treated survivors of human trafficking, intimate partner violence and sexual assault from across British Columbia, ranging in age from 13 to 80 years old.
However, the health authority said the largest demographic of patients was women aged 30 to 39-years-old, with most attacks perpetrated by someone the victims knew.
The unit provides a variety of services, including assessment, emotional support, treatment of injuries (including for sexually transmitted infections), emergency medical care, emergency contraception, the collection and storage of forensic evidence, and safety planning.
Before the team was in place, victims had to travel to Vancouver for forensic nursing and sexual assault services.
While the team has only had access to the forensic camera for about two months, Miller said it's already made a big difference for patients.
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'The feedback that we've had from survivors who have had forensic photography in our programmes has all been incredibly positive,' she said.
'They feel that their injuries are being seen to the extent that they have occurred. They can see them on the screen, and it's another way of documenting the account of their incident and documenting their story. '
-With files from Rumina Daya
