A Manitoulin Island health facility has received funding to test for rape, a service not offered on the Island in the past.
According to the release, Noojmowin Teg Health Centre is receiving $1.5 million in funding for the next three years from the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Indigenous Justice Division.
If a person is a victim of sexual assault, they are supported by the local police, but escorted to Health Sciences North for a rape testing kit.
The money will be used to develop sexual assault services, including forensic testing, for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence on Manitoulin.
If all goes well, the facility will start offering the service in April.