In 2020, the Yukon Government, in collaboration with several community agencies who provide services to victims of sexualized assault, launched the Sexualized Assault Response Team (“SART”). The Department of Health and Social Services (“HSS”) is one of seven SART agencies committed to providing a coordinated and collaborative response for all individuals victimized by sexualized violence and to
support them moving forward along whichever path of services they choose.
While the community agencies are involved in the governance and management of SART through a number of committees including the SART Implementation Committee, the SART Oversight Committee, and the SART Protocol and Training Management Committee, these committees are not involved in the day-to-day operations, data collection, or working with the individual unless that individual has consented to be referred to that agency or they choose to access those agencies on their own. The key agencies that make up SART are: Department of Health and Social Services (“HSS”); Department of Justice; the Women and Gender Equity Directorate; the Women’s Transition Home; RCMP – M Division; Yukon Hospital Corporation; and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.
Within HSS, the launch of the Yukon SART in 2020 saw the formation of a specific SART program unit within the broader Community Health Programs branch. This included the establishment of an individual’s forensic record associated with a sexualized assault being kept independent from their personal medical/health record for the protection of the individual’s privacy. The SART Clinical Coordinator role within HSS Community Health Programs includes retaining the individual's forensic record separate from their health record at Whitehorse General Hospital, providing system navigation services to individuals, facilitating collection and disclosure of the individual's forensic record across participating organizations based on the individual's consent (e.g., to the RCMP), and responsible for the overall clinical operations of the SART.