Manitoba child advocate not 'surprised' by rising number of youths sexually assaulted

A Manitoba advocacy organization for children and youth investigated a high number of sexual assault reports during this fiscal year, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The annual report for the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth (MACY) highlights the launch of the serious injury program — a centralized database where reports of life-threatening attacks causing psychological harm or requiring medical care are compiled and investigated. 

The program, launched on July 1 last year, fulfils a recommendation outlined in the Phoenix Sinclair inquiry and identifies trends in serious injuries that children, youth and young adults under 21 years experienced between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024. 

During the first nine months of the program, MACY, an independent office of the Manitoba legislature, received 184 serious injury referrals from health-care and child and family service organizations, according to the 56-page report. The advocacy organization completed 73 investigations that saw a disturbing trend: Most incident reports involved sexual assault, stabbing or gunshot wounds. 

"I wasn't surprised by them," said Sherry Gott, Manitoba advocate for children and youth. 

"Previous reports have been released by our office that had to deal with sexual assault and sexual exploitation, so those numbers are telling, right. So you know, there is a high number of those type of cases in our system."

In total, they investigated 24 reports of sexual assault and 21 reports related to stabbing or gunshot wounds, the report says. 

Gott says they are trying to streamline their processes and support the systems that are reporting to the organization. 

The addition of the serious injury program caused a spike in the number of requests for services, rising to more than 2,800 during this fiscal year from about 2,500 requests in 2022-2023, the report says. 

The organization was able to open 629 cases that required long-term support or more complex interventions for children, youth and young adults, with the majority of incidents involving abuse, neglect, mental health issues, school absenteeism, domestic violence and substance misuse.

The provincial government needs to develop a strategy that addresses these issues, specifically targeting mental health, substance misuse and addiction, Gott says. 

"We have been waiting for quite some time now and so we're hoping that something comes forward sooner than later," she said.  "We found that during our roundtable discussions, there is a lack of support and services in that area in Manitoba."

Child-related deaths

In addition to investigating serious injuries, advocates review reports of child-related deaths in the province. 

The report says MACY investigated 90 of 237 such notifications from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner this fiscal year, including 72 involving an Indigenous child, youth or young adult. 

According to the report, there has been an alarming increase in the number of homicide deaths of young people during the 2023-24 fiscal year. This fiscal year, 14 children, youth and young adults died by homicide, representing a 56 per cent increase compared with the average of the previous five years.

Gott says she is concerned about the number of cases involving children dying at the hands of caregivers, adding there also needs to be a provincial strategy that addresses mental health needs for adults. 

Nahanni Fontaine, minister of families, says government officials are working with Justice, Health and Housing to ensure they are addressing the needs of children and youth and providing wraparound support. 

"The report that was just released we take very, very seriously … We're listening to the concerns that were brought forth by MACY," Fontaine said Wednesday. 

She says any dataset created by those on the frontlines, such as the serious injury program, helps to inform the government, adding that the province is working to develop a mental health strategy for children, youth and young adults.