Latest news with #RISEProgram
CBC
08-05-2025
- CBC
Coverage of hockey players' trial could retraumatize survivors, says P.E.I. advocate
Social Sharing A P.E.I. advocate says news stories about the ongoing trial of five former Canadian world junior hockey players can deeply affect survivors of sexual violence, but there are resources on the Island to help those who need support. The trial has drawn national attention, involving five men charged with sexually assaulting a woman in June 2018. All five have pleaded not guilty. The woman's identity is protected under a publication ban; she is being referred to in court as E.M. This week, graphic details of sexual assault and violence have emerged and lawyers have been cross-examining the complainant. Sarah Dennis is a program manager with the RISE Program on P.E.I., which supports people aged 16 and older in exploring their legal rights around sexual assault, intimate partner violence and sexual harassment. She says news stories like this can reopen old wounds for survivors. "It can bring up a lot of traumatic memories, maybe about the assault itself. But then also, we have to consider about potentially the feelings around reporting to police or going through the court process as well," Dennis told CBC's Island Morning. "We can also think about feelings that might come up about not being believed when they have reported to friends, police or otherwise. And I think it can create a lot of feelings of... being back in that same place that maybe they were in, you know, potentially a long time ago." With stories like that of the hockey trial circulating widely, not only in traditional media but also online and on social media, Dennis said it can be difficult for survivors to avoid them. And the impact can be twofold. "It could feel really frustrating that things haven't changed potentially for the better, and that cases like this are still happening," she said. "But then I also think that ... hearing this in the media feels like, 'Well, change is happening. Cases are going to court, and people are getting potentially the support that they need.' And this is a great opportunity to share, you know, resources that are out there in the community that could be helpful to people who are in the same place." Resources available on P.E.I. Dennis pointed to several resources on the Island that people experiencing difficult feelings can turn to right now. The P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre is a good place to start, she said. People can contact the centre at 902-368-8055 or toll-free at 1-888-368-8055. There's also the P.E.I. Mental Health and Addictions Phone Line, which is available 24/7 at 1-833-553-6983 and is staffed by trained mental health professionals. "And then there's us at the RISE program that can support people looking to navigate the legal system and the supports in the community as well," Dennis said. Dennis added that there are things people can do to support a loved one who is a survivor of sexual assault and may be struggling with the news. "It's always important to listen to survivors, really listen to what they're saying, what their needs are," she said. "If they're looking for supports in the community, reaching out to places like 211, the RISE program, P.E.I. Mental Health and Addictions — but really letting the survivor take the lead on that." It's always important to listen to survivors, really listen to what they're saying, what their needs are. The trial will at some point come to an end, and Dennis said the outcome can affect survivors too. "It's always important for advocates in the community to express to survivors that they're not alone and they are believed. So whether or not certain things happen in a courtroom and decisions come down as they might... us advocates are standing in a survivor's corner saying, 'We believe you, and you're not alone.'" Dennis said the criminal justice system on P.E.I. over the years has looked at different approaches to handle sexual violence cases, such as exploring restorative justice programs and establishing specialized courts.
CBC
10-02-2025
- CBC
Workplace sexual violence against temporary foreign workers in P.E.I. underreported, advocates say
Better protections are needed for temporary foreign workers facing sexual violence in the workplace, advocates say. Instances of sexual violence against workers often go unreported, said Sarah Dennis, program manager with the RISE Program, which provides free legal support for people who have experienced workplace sexual harassment. "There are many barriers in place for temporary foreign workers to come forward to disclose sexual violence," Dennis said. "There's language barriers, there is isolation when they're working in rural communities, so limited access to resources, and then also the fear of deportation and losing their status." The issue was the topic of a panel discussion on systemic barriers faced by temporary foreign workers that was held at the Charlottetown Learning Library on Feb. 7. An estimated 40 per cent of P.E.I.'s agricultural workforce is now made up temporary foreign workers. Adding in employees in seafood processing, the trucking industry and other jobs, the number of temporary foreign workers arriving on the Island every year grew from about 400 in 2015 to more than 1,600 in 2023. Protective mechanisms for foreign workers that would make them less vulnerable to abuse need to be implemented by the federal and provincial governments, Dennis said. 'We're only hearing a fraction' It's hard to know just how prevalent workplace sexual violence is among the temporary foreign workforce, said Joe Byrne, co-ordinator of the Migrant Worker Resource Centre at the Cooper Institute. "We feel that we're only hearing a fraction of the actual abuses that are happening because of the fear of reporting," Byrne said. "The question of status is often the essential one, so the fear of violence or coercion or exploitation is secondary to the fear of losing status." Many foreign workers fear that reporting sexual violence or abuse on the part of their employer may cause their pathway to permanent residency to disappear, Byrne said. "People arrive with the same hopes and dreams that many of us have," Byrne said. "Then they find when they get here, or even before they get here, that their status and their ability to live out those hopes and dreams rests on the willingness of their employer to keep them employed." That's a result of the nature of the temporary foreign worker system itself, Byrne said. "We should not be surprised that when we structure oppression into a system that the system becomes oppressive," he said. "That is a natural consequence of poor policy making that puts workers in a vulnerable position with no pathway for dispute, or dispute resolution, without putting their status at risk." Removing barriers Although the Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act was passed in the P.E.I. Legislature in 2022, it has not yet been proclaimed into law. That's because the province is working on the act's regulations, such as enforcement, said Karla Bernard, interim leader of P.E.I.'s Green Party. After listening to the "powerful panel discussion," Bernard said she heard a clear message. "There are people in our communities who are essentially invisible, and as a result are put in really vulnerable situations when it comes to being exploited," she said. "We need to make foreign workers more visible. They need to have more connections in our community." Although supports for temporary foreign workers exist, it can be challenging to access them, Bernard said. "They're not connected, they don't have relationships built. There's language barriers, there's trust barriers, there's all sorts of barriers." Providing information and resources to workers is something the government could take on, Bernard said. She said she plans to bring the issue forward in the legislature and do more work on in her role as an MLA. "Everyone in P.E.I. deserves to live safely and freely and in security," Bernard said.
