This tab is for those who are recent survivors, that is typically used to describe individuals who have experienced an incident of sexual violence in the past 5 days. It is a collection of information for common steps that survivors take. Please remember, SACOMSS is here to support you. If you would like to go over these options in person, or receive accompaniment, please contact the Advocacy Branch. While we cannot guarantee that an advocate can be assigned to you immediately in an emergency situation, we will absolutely try our best to assign a volunteer quickly.
To talk to someone, please check our drop-in and phone line hours here. Please note that DIAL volunteers are not accompaniment volunteers. DIAL volunteers can provide support, but may or may not be able to answer specific questions related to McGill policy or legal issues.
To join a support group for survivors, send an email requesting an initial meeting here.
There are 5 locations in Montréal where someone can go to get medical attention specifically related to experiences of sexual assault. See the chart below for help selecting a clinic.
If you need to call an ambulance and need medical attention for an experience of sexual assault, you will be taken to one of these 5 centres.
If you go to a hospital/clinic that is not one of these 5 centres on your own, you will be sent or brought to one of these clinics.
Age
Language
Hours
Montréal Children’s Hospital (MCH)
<18
English
24/7
Hôpital Sainte-Justine
<18
French
24/7
Hôtel Dieu
18+
French
24/7
Montréal General Hospital
18+
English
M-F 1700-800, weekends/holidays
CLSC Métro
18+
French/English
M-F 800-1700
*Anyone over 14 years of age can consent to (or refuse) medical treatment after an experience of sexual assault without guardians being informed
** This means the language someone is most comfortable functioning in and/or having translated into/out of, i.e. if someone’s first language is neither French nor English, the hospital will do their best to find a translator (or a friend or family member can translate…)
The 5 centres are designated as such because they have “teams” of medical personnel who have been specifically trained to provide medical/psychosocial attention to people who have experienced sexual assault.
SACOMSS Advocacy volunteers are trained to accompany survivors to medical appointments. Please email advocacy@sacomss.org to be put in touch with someone more quickly.
Counsellors from the Montreal Sexual Assault Centre (MSAC) have partnerships with the CLSC Metro and the Montreal General Hospital. If you are at one of these centres, an MSAC counsellor may be dispatched to you within 30 minutes of your arrival (you must be over 18 years of age). They can help guide you through procedures, fill out forms, and communicate with hospital staff.
You may bring a friend/family member/partner/support person.
If you have drugs and alcohol in your system, you cannot be prosecuted for this (this is different from having drugs on your person, i.e. in your pocket, bag, etc.)
Everything as far as treatment/intervention is concerned, must be done with you expressed consent. You may refuse any part of the procedure.
If the survivor cannot express consent, hospital staff will do the best they can to wait until the person can consent, but they will treat immediate medical needs and also collect “evidence” that might be lost were they to wait (nothing will be done with this “evidence” until the person does/does not consent for it to be given to the police).
Anyone at the Montréal General (emergency room) will be seen. You will have to fill out extra paperwork without medicare.
if you don’t have ID the Montréal General Hospital they will take your name, etc. and ask you to pay up front if you can; however, they will still see you if you can’t pay.
Even if you are non-status, anyone going to emergency has to be given medical attention.
During medical exams, people are treated on a case-by-case basis, i.e. parts of a person’s body that do not need to be examined/were not involved in the situation or experience(s) of sexual assault (to the best of the person’s knowledge) will not be examined.
You may decide to fill out the Trousse Médicolegale and Médicosociale kits without pursuing an investigation. Nothing will be given to the police without express consent from the survivor
The trousse médicolegale (physical “evidence”) can be held for up to 14 days to allow someone who has been sexually assaulted time to decide if they do or do not want it to be given to the police/take legal action. If they decide not to, the physical evidence is destroyed and only the forms and one slide will be kept in their medical file – these things can be used should the person decide later that they do want to take legal action as there is currently no statute of limitations on sexual assault (i.e. it is never “too late” after the fact to bring a case to court).
If you would like to file a police report
If you report an assault to a police station immediately, officers are generally instructed to take you to one of the medical centres listed above.
To get information on what the process would look like after an initial report, contact advocacy@sacomss.org
This Webpage will identify your neighbourhood police station.
The contact number for the Montreal Sexual Crimes Unit is: 514-280-2079
The Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support, and Education (OSVRSE) at McGill has a relationship with Montreal Police. As long as the event occurred in Quebec, you may contact the OSVRSE to have your report taken in their office with their support instead of going to a station. For more information or to set this up, contact the OSVRSE.
It is your decision to move forward. You do not have to take an interview with a detective if you do not want to. You will be asked if you want an investigation to commence.
Information can be kept in a file without having an investigation for the purposes of identifying a pattern or perpetrator in similar cases. If you decide to pursue further legal action, you are protected by the Canadian Victim Bill of Rights.
For help with matters including resources available to you, housing issues, food security, protection at school or work, the Advocacy Branch exists to help you identify and meet your individual needs. Volunteers will sit down with you to learn about your situation and research options going forward. We understand concerns about typical processes after sexual violence and will support any decision made by you.
