Nunavut youth workers learn strategies to assist victims of abuse

More than two dozen people, including RCMP officers andsocial and youth workers, took part in a five day workshop in Iqaluitdesigned to assist victims of child sexual and physical abuse, learning strategies to properly communicate withyoung people and help them safely share their experiences.

The workshop, which wrapped up Tuesday, was held by the RCMP and the territorial government's department of Family Services. It's of particular importance to Nunavut residents theterritory has one of the highest rates of child sexual andphysical abuse in the country.

In March, a non-profit organization, Voice Found, held free workshops in Iqaluitaimed at helping adultsrecognizesigns of child sexual abuse.

Dawn Scott, who manages Illagittugut, the Iqaluityouth home, saysshe sees how abuse ravages the lives of young Nunavummiut. Often, she says, cases aren't reported to police because victims don't want to re-live the trauma.

"I have seen many times when the process itself has overwhelmed the child," says Scott. "They become exhausted, less likely to be able to remember clearly."

The seminar taughtScott, and other participants, strategies to help young people share their experiences without retraumatizing them. That includes things like recording interviews, so a young person doesn't have to tell their ordeal to several people.

"We were discussing as a team how to interview the child one time and make sure we also record properly with video and other equipment," she explained. "Then that's how we would reduce the trauma,by everyone who needed to observe the interview would be out of the child's view, or watching it on film later."

Rebekah Williams, the deputy ministerof Family Services, says another priority during the workshop was giving social and youth workers strategies to ensure youth understand what is going on.

"In some of the smaller communities, children don't speak very good English," she said, highlighting the need for investigators to work with Inuktitut interpreters when language is a barrier.

Those aregood lessons for youth worker Scott, who says the seminar made her feel "much more capable of doing a better job."

The group also learned strategies for better reporting, including how to gather evidence and how to protect a crime scene.