NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area, Dehcho Region, North Slave Region, South Slave Region

Tags: women, needs assessment, sexual assault

Objective(s): To understand the needs of Northwest Territories (NWT) women who have experienced sexual assaults; to develop a protocol among NWT service providers to better respond to sexual violence against women; and, to develop an NWT pilot project that provides services, possibly located at two shelters, incorporating the knowledge of northern women, service providers, and the most promising practices from southern Canada.

Project Description: The objectives of this two year project are to understand the needs of Northwest Territories (NWT) women who have experienced sexual assaults; to develop a protocol among NWT service providers to better respond to sexual violence against women; and, to develop an NWT pilot project that provides services, possibly located at two shelters, incorporating the knowledge of northern women, service providers, and the most promising practices from southern Canada. For the needs assessment the research team will conduct 20 one hour recorded interviews with women survivors of rape and sexual abuse, and 20 one hour recorded interviews with service providers for survivors of rape. The above interviews are to take place in Fort Smith, Hay River, Yellowknife, Inuvik, and Tuktoyaktuk. The research team will facilitate "community of practice" meetings in two of the above communities to share information and discuss and collaborate on ways to respond to rape in the NWT to develop and test a pilot project which will be delivered in one and possibly two communities. On-going evaluation of the pilot project will be done throughout. After the delivery of the pilot project and evaluation are complete the research team will write, prepare, upload, and deliver reports on the project. Women and service providers in Hay River, Fort Smith, Yellowknife, Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk will participate in providing valuable social data and information to the research team. They will be invited to a meeting where research findings (with strict confidentiality guidelines) are shared. Research is conducted in southern jurisdictions regarding aboriginal women and sexual violence. This information will be shared with aboriginal women, organizations, and governments in the NWT. Focus groups and communities of practice are held in three to four NWT communities where information about sexual violence against women and what response services work best is shared. Researchers travel to four NWT communities to gather information, hold communities of practice, and focus groups. Results are shared through a plain language reflective report is written, which is copied to cd and circulated to everyone who participated in the research. A public meeting will be held in one of the communities where a pilot project is located to provide information about the project, what the research team have learned, what the team wants to improve. The YWCA-Yellowknife will make a presentation to the MLA's of the Legislative Assembly of the NWT The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from December 4, 2014 to December 31, 2014.