The Ministry of Justice and Attorney General is partnering with the Law Society of Saskatchewan to develop a sexual violence education program.
The program will be made available to judges, lawyers and other justice system professionals with the goal of ensuring best practices are used when working with sexual violence complainants.
“We have heard consistent feedback that survivors of sexual violence feel the need for increased confidence in the justice system,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Don Morgan said in a release. “One of our primary focuses of this program is to ensure the Saskatchewan legal community is informed about legal protections afforded to complainants in a criminal prosecution.”
Components of the program will include:
- Criminal Code education on sexual offenses;
- available supports for survivors of sexual violence;
- courtroom tools, such as witness screens; and
- trauma and its effects.
“Though educational opportunities exist for members of the legal community and justice system stakeholders around sexual assault and gender-based violence, we feel this is an area that could benefit from consistent, comprehensive annual programming,” Morgan said.
The program will be developed in collaboration with the legal community, the courts, and Victims Services, and provided in partnership with the Law Society of Saskatchewan.