Sexual assault victims in Manitoba now have a 24-7 provincial third-party reporting system which was set up to ensure victim's voices are heard.

Klinic Community Health Centre Executive Director Nicole Chammartin says this new reporting system is in partnership with Winnipeg Police Services, RCMP, Heart Medicine Lodge, and Sage House. Chammartin says while this reporting system has been in the works for years the #metoo movement may help systems move faster and adds the current climate is focusing more on sexual assault and violence right now.

Klinic Community Health Centre Executive Director Nicole Chammartin (Photo credit: Nicole Chammartin)Chammartin notes the system offers anonymous support for those who need to talk to someone about their experience and may not feel comfortable with traditional criminal reporting.

"One of the challenges with sexual assault is it's really the most under-reported crime in Canada. So, it's estimated that less than 5% of sexual assaults are reported. So, it becomes a real problem in that we don't actually know sometimes the extent of the problem or what the common factors are or what the barriers are."

Chammartin says barriers that keep people from reporting sexual assault including fear of what it's like to go through the criminal justice system, being known publicly, internal shame, and guilt.

"There's a long history in our society of blaming people who have experienced sexual assault in multiple ways even through how we ask questions about what they were wearing, what they were doing, and how they were acting at the time of the assault."

She adds it can also be because of a safety issue as the majority of sexual assault perpetrators are known to their victim.

 "In terms of people's experience of what they've seen in criminal trials, it really sometimes can feel like the person who has experienced it is put on trial. When people experience robbery you don't hear them say, well, why were you walking around with so much money or in that suit. We don't do that but that's what we do to women. We ask them what they were wearing, we ask them what they were drinking, and we ask them how they contributed. So, it can be a really difficult experience."

Chammartin says it's disappointing to see this kind of behaviour in our society and prevention starts from a very young age.